Fiery Pool: the Maya and the Mythic Sea April 17, 2011

'Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea' brings together over 90 works, many never before seen in the United States, to offer exciting insights into the culture of the ancient Maya. Surrounded by the sea and dependent on the life-giving power of rain and clouds, the ancient Maya created fantastic objects imbued with the symbolic power of water. This exhibition presents four thematic sections--Water and Cosmos, Creatures of the Fiery Pool, Navigating the Cosmos, and Birth to Rebirth--that explore the different ways Mayan artists represented water, from setting religious narratives in watery domains to using shells and other exotic materials acquired through coastal trade networks.