The sixteenth-century Inca Empire was one of the largest states in the worldat that time. It included most parts of modern Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and northern Chile and reached into contemporary Argentina. The Inca called their empire the Land of the Four Quarters, which began as a state of many small rival kingdoms. To hold this linguistically and ethnically diverse state together, they depended on religion, a well-organised bureaucracy, and different forms of labor taxation.
Inca’s one of the expressive forms was their religion, which rituals were aimed at winning the favor of the gods, who were often equaled to natural forces, especially the sun, water, or weather, as well as natural world around the Inca, including mountains, lakes, rivers, oceans, and constellations. These natural features are sacred for them, and the Inca called them huacas. The sun was an ultimate giver of life, and Inca people made sure that it was worshipped properly so that it would appear the next day. Inca beliefs were tied to many rituals which involved the sacrifice of precious objects, such as textiles, coca, a drink chichi, and lamas (Merriman, 2013). Though children were also sacrificed, but it was rare and only because of natural disasters, wars, or crowning of a new emperor (Merriman, 2013).
However, Inca’s major expressive form was architecture since the very shape of individually worked stones conveyed a powerful aesthetic impact (Art History, p. 841).The Inca is renowned for its stonework that is refined and durable. Inca builders worked with the simplest tools to create roads and bridges, terraces for growing crop, and simple and at the same time elaborate structures. Inca masonry contained either rectangular blocks or irregular polygonal blocks (Art History, p. 842). Inca stonework is of great durability since it survived earthquakes while later structures were destroyed. A perfect example of finest Inca masonry was its capital Cusco that was situated high in the Andes Mountains. Cusco is said to have an urban plan that was designed in the shape of a puma: the head of the puma was fortress of Sacsahuaman, while its belly was the giant plaza located at the center of the town. Also, Cusco was divided into two part – upper and lower, which denoted the dual organization of Inca society (Art History, p. 841).
An important art of Incas was the production of fine textiles. The Inca believed that cloth was a fitting gift for the gods, thus the statues were dressed in fine garments, or the cloth was burned as a sacrificial offering. Besides, the patterns and designs on cloths were not simply pleasing to the eye, but also carried symbolic meaning, such as indications of a person’s social rank and ethnic identity. In Dumbarton Oaks Museum is an elaborate tunic made of camelid fiber and cotton. Its design is many squares that represent miniature tunics, such as tunics with checkerboard designs that were worn by royal escortsor military officers; the four-part patterns that may associate with the Inca Empire as the Land of the Four Quarters. There is a diagonal key motif which is often found on tunics with horizontal border stripes, although its meaning is unknown.Patterns and colors of textiles seem to have been standardized like uniforms to convey information at a glance (Art History, p. 843). Considering all these designs associated with different status and ranks, this tunic may have been woven exclusively for a royal.
The Inca treasured objects made of gold and silver not for being a precious metal, but because they considered them symbols of the sun and the moon. The Inca people are said to have called gold the sweat of the sun and silver the tears of the moon (Art History, p. 843). However, not many example of Inca metalwork are leftsince Spanish conquerors melted down everything that was not buried as offerings. One of the work that escaped Spanish hands is a figure of the little llama.The Incas thought that the llama had a special connection with the sun, with rain, and with fertility, therefore,every morning a llama was martyred to the sun in Cuzco. In this small silver statuette, the essential character of a llama is represented with a few carefully selected details, and a red blanket with white and black patterns was placed on its back to keep the value that was given to textiles by Incas (Art History, p. 843).
Nonetheless, an excellent example of Inca art was Machu Picchu, which is situated at 9,000 feet above sea level and is one of the most spectacular archaeological sites in the world. It is located on the both sides of two high peaks in the East Andes and looks down on the Urubamba River. Stone buildings, which today only lack their thatched roofs, occupy terraces around central plazas, and narrow agricultural terraces that descend into valley. At Machu Picchu, all buildings and terraces within its 3-square-mile extent were made of granite (Art History, p. 842). Commoners’ houses and some walls were built of irregular stones that were gentlyattached together, while fine polygonal or smoothed masonry characterized palaces and temples. The eastern part of site was the royal quarters, where, probably, important diplomatic negotiations or ceremonial feasts had taken place. The entire complex is planned with great thoughtfulness towards its surroundings, because walls and plazas are one with astonishing panoramas of the surrounding landscape.
Machu Picchu constitutes of buildings, plazas, and platforms linked by narrow paths or lanes. However, “one sector is cordoned off to itself by walls, ditches, and, perhaps, a moat – [and] built, writes Lumbreras, not as part of a military fortification [but] rather as a form of restricted ceremonial isolation" (Hearn and Golomb). Many modern researchers argue about the reason of constructing Mach Picchu. Some say that it was an escape for elites from the noise of a city. Nevertheless, the most common theory is that the construction of Machu Picchu is connected with religion since it is located in the center of a sacred landscape. This theory is the most reasonable since Machu Picchu is surrounded by the Urubama River, which is honored by local people. The mountains, which embrace the site, are also significant sacred landforms. According to Reinhard, "taken together, these features have meant that Machu Picchu formed a cosmological, hydrological, and sacred geographical center for a vast region" (Hearn and Golomb).
Comparing Inca Empire to other cultures of Americas, a parallel can be draw between Inca and Maya. Maya also worshipped nature gods, such as gods of sun, rain, and crop, for which they were building temples to honor them, for instance, a nine-level pyramid by the name of the Temple of the Inscriptions or another nine-level pyramid at Chichen Itza. Each of the pyramids has a steep staircase for the priests to reach the temples located at the pyramid summits. The first pyramid received its name because of the inscriptions on the back wall of the outer chamber that praise accomplishments of Maya powerful ruler Pakal, whose tomb is also in the pyramid. However, Maya not only were great builders, but also sculptors. At Chichen Itza are half-reclining figures named chacmools, which have well-made forms and correct proportions (Art: A Brief History, p. 409).
Religion played a major role and for Inca, and for Maya. There is a bridge between religion and art in both cultures connected since one is seen through another. For Incas as well as Mayas, art was a medium for conveying their religious beliefs. Art was a way to make their religion and history be remembered for centuries. There would be no art without religion since all their great buildings were constructed as places for religious rituals that would bring them prosperity and progress. The religion for both nations was a motivation to make something better, even if it included bloodshed, probably, it set their hearts at ease. If they did not perform rituals, they could have been gone insane since it kept them thinking about the future and what should be done to meet a new day.
References
Hearn, K., and Golomb, J. Machu Picchu's Mysteries Continue to Lure Explorers. National Geographic. Retrieved from http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/machu-picchu-mystery/
Merriman, C. P. (2013). Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mysteries of the Incas. Social Studies Curriculum, Yale University, New Haven.
Stokstad, M., and Cothren, M. W. (2011). Art History (Vol. 2, 4thed). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
Stokstad, M., and Cothren, M. W. (2011). Art: A Brief History (4thed). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
