Encounter
Cortes and Moctezuma
oil on linen
12 X 18 feet (3.65 X 5.50m.)
1989-91
 

Encounter 

The composition depicts the encounter between the Aztec King Montezuma and the Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortes in a scene with two major sections separated at the top center by a V-shaped  open space containing fallen figures of a warrior and an eagle.
The right section is dominated by a figure representing Cortés reaching for his long sword drawn over two subdued figures. He is leaning
backward upon a female figure representing his interpreter and mistress known as la Malinche. The upper area shows a figure with wide-flung arms arching a horse above the figures of a priest and a soldier.

The left section shows Montezuma holding a flower necklace. His posture is reinforced by a triangular plane containing figures and symbols referring to Aztec mythical  gods and warriors.




 

 

 


 

americapaintings | discovery | encounter | covenant | birth | branching | eagles | chains | split | dawn | 
Encounter

detail
America: Encounter

Oil on linen

12 X 18 feet (3.65 X 5.50m)

1989-91