Xipe Totec
In Aztec mythology, Xipe Totec ("our lord the flayed one") was a life-death-rebirth deity, god of agriculture, the west, disease, spring, goldsmiths and the seasons. He flayed himself to give food to humanity, symbolic of the maize seed losing the outer layer of the seed before germination. Without his skin, he was depicted as a golden god.
Annually, slaves were selected as sacrifices to Xipe Totec. These slaves were carefully flayed to produce a nearly whole skin which was then worn by the priests during the fertility rituals that followed the sacrifice. Some accounts indicate that a thigh bone from the sacrifice was defleshed and used by the priest to touch spectators in a fertility blessing. Paintings and several clay figures have been found which illustrate the flaying method and the appearance of priests wearing flayed skins.
Comments and faves
AnnuskA - AnnA Theodora (69 months ago | reply)
stupendous shot! really really good! great light... superior quality!! congrats for the good work!!
Omar Eduardo (69 months ago | reply)
So kind of you Ann, thank you. :)
Lilithu added this photo to her favorites. (69 months ago)
S@mmy K@y [deleted] (69 months ago | reply)
Scary!
Good photography, Omar. At the risk of sound ignorant, What is it ???
It looks like it has an interesting story behind it.
grace*c* (69 months ago | reply)
Oh wow, this is great! lOve the lighting.
jimeli1 added this photo to his favorites. (69 months ago)
Kholoud M (69 months ago | reply)
Very nice Omar:)
Abhinav Varma (69 months ago | reply)
interesting ..
St.L. [deleted] (69 months ago | reply)
stunning!
Your Pride!
Svjetlost (69 months ago | reply)
wonderful shot... very dramatic game of light and shadows...
jadwinia (69 months ago | reply)
porażające.... awesome! super!
pearmax (69 months ago | reply)
Excelente foto, tetrica. La mascara parece de piedra, no de barro. Muy bueno el trabajo de la luz ( o iluminación) Disculpa mi ignorancia, no domino la terminologia fotografica.
rotraud_71 away for a while ~~~ added this photo to her favorites. (69 months ago)
rotraud_71 away for a while ~~~ (69 months ago | reply)
Excellente minimalistic picture! Really great!
Seen in my contact's photos!
Jaisey (69 months ago | reply)
Ah, very strange tone. I really like it. Well done.
Jaisey and Anitah added this photo to their favorites.
Anitah (69 months ago | reply)
Teatro! =)
Nossa, linda demais
=*
Maia C (69 months ago | reply)
The dark tone is very effective. (seen in Lonely Objects)
Kirstenv (69 months ago | reply)
This is intriguing. Yet again you made a beautiful shot! :)
Kirstenv added this photo to her favorites. (69 months ago)
flick.it [deleted] (69 months ago | reply)
very beautiful shot... great lighting.
#_Gwen_# (69 months ago | reply)
Cauntisimo tiempo hace que no voy a visitar un museo..... de momento me conformo con los documentales de la tele, aunque cuando pueda ire a ver unas cuantas exposiciones, de siempre me ha gustado el arte y conocer otras culturas :)
Te quedó una foto misteriosa. ;)
gilsonrome added this photo to their favorites. (69 months ago)
Nney (69 months ago | reply)
la, la, lalalaa, laaa ..
*Irina* [deleted] (69 months ago | reply)
looks almost spooky...the light is great!
Sepideh! (69 months ago | reply)
Nice B&W!
Omar Eduardo (69 months ago | reply)
Sammy, Grace, Kholoud, Abhinav, oltrenauta, Mirna, Jadzia, Rotraud, Jaise, Maia, Kirsten, flick.it, Irina & Sepideh: Thank you all for your visit and comments.
pearmax, Gwen y Nney: Gracias por sus comentarios.
Anitah: Muito obrigado. ;)
JustABigGeek (69 months ago | reply)
Nice image! very moody.
LONELY OBJECTS GROUP
All Your Expressions Photography added this photo to her favorites. (69 months ago)
All Your Expressions Photography (69 months ago | reply)
Fabulous use of lighting and B&W! Awesome!
eirechic76 (68 months ago | reply)
fantastic shot
museology (68 months ago | reply)
Bienvenido al grupo, da gusto iniciar con alguien experimentado como tu, sientete libre de invitar a tus contactos y grupos para participar en el tema.
Adminstrador de Museos de México
www.flickr.com/groups/63483146@N00/
Crystal*Lynn [deleted] (68 months ago | reply)
eerie and well done!
Omar Eduardo (68 months ago | reply)
Thank you all for your kind comments. I recomend you to read the description.
daniel64, shankargallery, The brief wondrous life of Przemek Debowski, erda28, and 3 other people added this photo to their favorites.
scott_heritage (43 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Heritage Key, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
ALFONSO SÁNCHEZ, fernandodemexico, The Canexican, and TheSikorsky added this photo to their favorites.