Día de los Muertos - Kimbell Art Museum

Día de los Muertos
Kimbell Art Museum Family Gallery Guide
November
1–2, 2015
Every year, families and friends celebrate the traditional holiday known
as the “Day of the Dead” that started in Mexico and Central America a
very long time ago. They prepare special foods, play music, and enjoy
other festivities to remember their ancestors. Use this guide in the Piano
Pavilion and the Kahn Building to explore related artworks.
Look carefully…
Who do you think
this figure was?
What do you notice
about his outfit?
Day of the Dead
is rooted in Pre-Columbian
beliefs about the underworld
and the afterlife.
Ancestors were honored as
gods, and the jaguar was often
shown as a god of the
underworld.
List some of the animal
features you see in these two censors:
Images: (Top) Standing Ruler, Maya culture, Guatemala, Late Classic period, c. A.D. 600–800. Ceramic with traces of paint, 9 3/8 x 3 7/8 x 3 7/8 in. (23.8 x 9.9 x 9.8 cm).
Kimbell Art Museum. (Bottom) Censer Stand with the Head of a Supernatural Being with a Kan Cross, Maya culture, Palenque, Chiapas, Usumacinta region, Mexico, Late
Classic period, c. A.D. 690–720. Ceramic with traces of pigments, 44 7/8 × 21 1/2 × 11 1/2 in. (114 × 54.6 × 29.2 cm). Kimbell Art Museum
This dressed-up
skeleton reminds us of
the “calacas” who celebrate
Day of the Dead. They often
wear festive outfits, and
are shown dancing and
playing music.
Decorate your own festive calacas:
Image: James Ensor (Belgian, 1860–1949), Skeletons Warming Themselves (detail), 1889, oil on canvas. Kimbell Art Museum