Head of Xilonen, the Goddess of Young Maize

1400–1500

Aztec (Mexica)
Tenochtitlan, Mexico

This sculptural fragment represents Xilonen, the youthful Aztec (Mexica) goddess of new maize (corn), who embodies concepts of fertility and renewal. Two large ears of maize rise from her floral headband, with long tassels flowing down her back. In July the Aztecs held a spectacular agricultural festival in Xilonen’s honor to celebrate the first fruits of the summer season. During this ritual ceremony, a young girl impersonated the
goddess, dancing to bring forth an abundant harvest. The name Xilonen was Hispanicized in Mexico as elote, meaning “fresh, tender ear of corn.”

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

Culture: Aztec (Mexica)
Title: Head of Xilonen, the Goddess of Young Maize
Place: Tenochtitlan (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.: 1400–1500
Medium: Basalt
Dimensions: 32.4 × 20.3 × 12.1 cm (12 3/4 × 8 × 4 3/4 in.)
Credit Line: African and Amerindian Art Purchase Fund
Reference Number: 1986.1091
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/65328/manifest.json

Allen Wardwell, Primitive Art from Chicago Collections, exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1960), cat. 38 (ill.).
H.B. Nicholson, “An Aztec Stone Image of a Fertility Goddess,” Baessler-Archiv, Berlin, XI, no. I (1963): 9-30, 10-12; figs. 1-3 (ill.).
H.B. Nicholson, “An Aztec Stone Image of a Fertility Goddess: Addenda,” Baessler-Archiv, Berlin, XIII (1964), 236.
Everett McNear, High Culture in the Americas before 1500, exh. cat. (Chicago: The Arts Club of Chicago, 1982), 24, cat. 50 (ill.).
Richard Townsend with Elizabeth Pope, Indian Art of the Americas at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2016), 388, cat. 187 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, Primitive Art from Chicago Collections, Nov. 16, 1960–Jan. 2, 1961, cat. 38 (ill.).
Arts Club of Chicago, High Culture in the Americas before 1500, Nov. 15–Dec. 31, 1982, cat. 50, p. 24 (ill.).

Everett (1904–1984) and Ann (died 1994) McNear, Chicago, by 1960 [on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago for the exhibition Primitive Art from Chicago Collections, Wardwell 1960, cat. 38]; by descent to Ann McNear, Chicago, 1984; sold, Sotheby’s, New York, Nov. 24, 1986, Sale 5516, to the Art Institute of Chicago.

Artwork Resource Packet: Head of Xilonen, Goddess of Young Maize

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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.

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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.

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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.

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