Hieroglyphic Panel

650–800

Late Classic Maya
Usumacinta River area, Mexico or Guatemala

The Maya developed hieroglyphic writing to record the names, births, marriages, alliances, victories and coronations, and deaths of their rulers. Mythological events and religious happenings were also carefully chronicled. Today scholars are deciphering this script and linking the translated information to additional archaeological evidence in order to reconstruct ancient Maya history, belief, and culture. This fragment from a hieroglyphic panel contains calendrical information that was part of a longer text.

Status: On View, Gallery 136
Department: Arts of the Americas

Culture: Maya
Title: Hieroglyphic Panel
Place: Mexico (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 650 CE–800 CE
Medium: Limestone
Dimensions: 28.6 × 26.7 × 3.8 cm (11 1/4 × 10 1/2 × 1 1/4 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Claire B. Zeisler Foundation
Reference Number: 1970.101
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/33231/manifest.json

The Art Quarterly, “Recent Accessions of American and Canadian Museums,” The Art Quarterly 34, 1 (Spring 1971): 123, 129, fig. 2, top.
Allen Wardwell, “Mayan Treasures at the Art Institute of Chicago,” Apollo: The International Magazine of Arts (June 1972): 491, fig. 9.
Michael D. Coe, The Maya Scribe and His World, (Grolier Club, New York, 1973), 29 (mentioned, not illustrated).
Karl Herbert Mayer, Maya Monuments: Sculptures of Unknown Provenance in the United States (Acoma Books, Ramona, CA, 1980), 19, plate 27, cat. 46.
Charles Gallenkamp and Regina Elise Johnson, eds., Maya: Treasures of an Ancient Civilization, exh. cat. (Harry N. Abrams with the Albuquerque Museum, 1985), 185, cat. 141.
Angela M.H. Schuster, “The Search for Site Q,” “Archaeology, 50, 5 (Sept./Oct. 1997).
Peter Mathews, “Site Q Sculptures,” Archaeology (March 25, 1998), https://archive.archaeology.org/online/features/siteq identified as Glyphic Panel 5 (ill.).
Richard Townsend with Elizabeth Pope, Indian Art of the Americas at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago with Yale University Press, 2016), 210, cat. 168.

New Mexico, Albuquerque Museum with the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico, the Instituto de Antropología e Historia de Guatemala, and the Department of Archaeology, Belize, Maya: Treasures of an Ancient Civilization, Nov. 16, 1986–Feb. 8, 1987, cat. 141; New York, American Museum of Natural History, Apr. 26–July 28, 1985; Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Aug. 27–Nov. 3, 1985; Dallas Museum of Art, Dec. 15, 1985–Feb. 16, 1986; Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, Mar. 22–June 15, 1986.

Merrin Gallery, New York, by 1969 [incoming permanent receipt RX7290, Dec. 22, 1969, copy in curatorial object file]; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1969.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

On View

Status

Department

Culture

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

Explore Further

Suggested Terms

See all hours

On View

Date:

Artist:

About this artwork

Status

Department

Culture

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

Extended information about this artwork

Publication History

Exhibition History

Provenance

Share

Explore Further

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Gallery actions

Image actions

Share

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.