Exhibition of Mexican art in Hermitage

An exhibition "A Voyage to the Country of Gods. Mexico. Ancient Monuments" opened in the State Hermitage on Tuesday.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Mexican Ministry of Culture, the Mexican Embassy to Russia and the Russian Embassy to Mexico.

The exposition presents exhibits from 16 Mexican museums, including the National Anthropology Museum in Mexico, the country's largest museum. The exposition is supplemented by Hermitage exhibits.

More than 270 objects of art, created by the Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Totonac, Mistec, Zapotec and other Indians, deal with their gods and rulers, everyday life and rituals.

The exposition presents ceramics (vessels and figurines), stone and gold articles (jewellery and ritual objects), for instance an eagle-warrior, a gold Aztec breastplate. Visitors can also see a giant stone head 1.78 metres high, weighing 6 tons, a sculpture of one of the Olmec rulers, one of the brightest samples of their art.

In March 2002 the exhibition "A Voyage to the Country of Gods. Mexico. Ancient Monuments" was held at the New Kirche International Exhibition Centre in Amsterdam.

The Hermitage will host the exhibition till October 13th.