Olmec
Male Figure
Olmec, 800-401
Physical Qualities
Serpentine, 3 3/8 × 1 15/16 × 13/16 in. (8.5 × 5 × 2 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Alan Wurtzburger
Object Number
1960.30.30
Sculpted primarily from green-colored stone, these brilliantly polished figures attest to the Olmec mastery of balanced form. Olmec artists placed emphasis on infantile qualities -- exposed gums, squalling mouth, smooth, fleshy body, bald head - to create male figures representing the supernatural. This figure type would have been arranged or manipulated in ritual. The figure's arms and legs have been intentionally mutilated, a practice common to the termination of Olmec sacred objects.
Baltimore Museum of Art. The Alan Wurtzburger Collection of Pre-Columbian Art. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1958, no. 30, page 27.
