Uploaded May 2023 | Updated September 2026, 18 hours ago
Making something large or small confers practical and symbolic benefits. It enhances or reduces visibility; it makes grand or modest assertions about an image, text, or object; and it instates or undermines social privilege. Scale and size are useful for controlling such properties and the people they affect. Recently interpreted texts and images explain how the Maya used size and scale in small god effigies, towering monoliths, petite containers, and varying mortuary monuments.
This is the third talk of the six-part series “Vital Signs: The Visual Cultures of Maya Writing,” presented by Stephen D. Houston of Brown University for the 72nd A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts.
Part 1: youtube.com/live/Fn7i3DanIeE
Part 2: youtube.com/live/V-HX6lnJJ5Y
Part 3: youtube.com/live/ugbzybYT2ck
Part 4: youtu.be/DS29gFnxdww
Part 5: youtube.com/live/2zixZZ2ehz0
Part 6: youtube.com/live/XOO8m_g31pE
Learn more about the Mellon Lectures on our website:
nga.gov/research/casva/meetings/mellon-lectures-in-the-fine-arts/houston-2023.html
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National Gallery of Art ►►youtube.com/NationalGalleryofArtUS
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#Art
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#StephenHouston
#Maya
#AncientArt
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#AncientMesoamerica
Making something large or small confers practical and symbolic benefits. It enhances or reduces visibility; it makes grand or modest assertions about an image, text, or object; and it instates or undermines social privilege. Scale and size are useful for controlling such properties and the people they affect. Recently interpreted texts and images explain how the Maya used size and scale in small god effigies, towering monoliths, petite containers, and varying mortuary monuments.
This is the third talk of the six-part series “Vital Signs: The Visual Cultures of Maya Writing,” presented by Stephen D. Houston of Brown University for the 72nd A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts.
Part 1: youtube.com/live/Fn7i3DanIeE
Part 2: youtube.com/live/V-HX6lnJJ5Y
Part 3: youtube.com/live/ugbzybYT2ck
Part 4: youtu.be/DS29gFnxdww
Part 5: youtube.com/live/2zixZZ2ehz0
Part 6: youtube.com/live/XOO8m_g31pE
Learn more about the Mellon Lectures on our website:
nga.gov/research/casva/meetings/mellon-lectures-in-the-fine-arts/houston-2023.html
Still haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channels?
National Gallery of Art ►►youtube.com/NationalGalleryofArtUS
National Gallery of Art Talks ►►youtube.com/NationalGalleryofArtTalks
ABOUT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
The National Gallery of Art serves the nation by welcoming all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity.
More National Gallery of Art Content:
Facebook: facebook.com/nationalgalleryofart
Twitter: twitter.com/ngadc
Instagram: instagram.com/ngadc
Pinterest: pinterest.com/ngadc/_created
E-News: nga.us4.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=e894a1837aca4526f7e8a11b3&id=2085ff9475
#Art
#NationalGalleryOfArt
#Museum
#TheCenter
#CASVA
#MellonLectures
#StephenHouston
#Maya
#AncientArt
#Anthropology
#Archaeology
#AncientMesoamerica
