Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of tables
- Summary
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Defining the Maya built environment
- 2 Investigative considerations and methodology
- 3 Access analysis of the Palenque Cross Group and its sculpture
- 4 Architectural and sculptural programs of the Palenque Palace Group
- 5 Access analysis of the architectural and sculptural programs of the Palenque Palace Group
- 6 Access analysis of Maya art and architecture: Summary and conclusions
- Appendixes 1–7
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - Architectural and sculptural programs of the Palenque Palace Group
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of tables
- Summary
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Defining the Maya built environment
- 2 Investigative considerations and methodology
- 3 Access analysis of the Palenque Cross Group and its sculpture
- 4 Architectural and sculptural programs of the Palenque Palace Group
- 5 Access analysis of the architectural and sculptural programs of the Palenque Palace Group
- 6 Access analysis of Maya art and architecture: Summary and conclusions
- Appendixes 1–7
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Palenque Palace: General description
In accordance with Andrews (1975: 59–63), the Palace at Palenque has been defined as a Palace Group archetype. In this chapter, I will first present a general description of the Palace Group followed by a phase-by-phase explanation of each building and associated sculpture. As outlined earlier in this investigation, temporally and spatially disparate sculpture and architecture cannot be compared indiscriminately: The gradual accumulation of monuments over time and the extension, modification, and renewal of buildings affect the capacity of architecture and associated sculpture to provide telling relationships. To address this problem, architectural features and sculptures of the Palace were assigned to phases and the reigns of kings. These assignments provided a way of confining the periods investigated, as well as placing any correlation made between sculpture, architecture, and space in context. With the help of “access analysis,” the objectives in articulating the various Palace phases were threefold: (1) to more effectively reveal the progression of sculptural and architectural development of the Palace Group; (2) to provide a platform for inferring the possible intent of Maya rulers in their commissioning and placement of particular sculptural media within specific spatial/architectural contexts; and (3) to establish a method of comparing the different rulers' sculptural and architectural programs.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Space and Sculpture in the Classic Maya City , pp. 68 - 133Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011