Mask of Pakal

The jade-and-stone mosaic funerary mask of K'inich Janaab' Pakal I (AD 603–683), the long-reigning king of the Classic-era Maya city of Palenque, was recovered in 1952 by the archaeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier from the sarcophagus chamber deep beneath the Temple of the Inscriptions. The mask is assembled from more than 200 fitted plaques of green jadeite with eyes of shell, obsidian, and mother-of-pearl, and once rested over the king's face as his divine portrait for the afterlife. Today one of the most celebrated objects of the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, it is a touchstone for the study of Classic Maya royal art.

Exhibition Venue

Museo Nacional de Antropología

Mexico City, Mexico

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