Painting the Cosmos - by Alan Grinnell (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The result of decades of study, Alan Grinnell's Painting the Cosmos presents the spectacular and underappreciated art of Panama and its revealing iconography. Emphasizing brightly painted polychrome designs with complex iconography on myriad ceramic forms, the art of Central Panama (ca. 200 BCE-1500 CE) is highly distinctive compared to other pre-Columbian cultures. The book illustrates more than eight hundreds vessels in full color, many of which will be unfamiliar even to pre-Columbian specialists, and proposes interpretations of the iconography informed by the archaeology, history, and ethnohistory of the region. In these animistic cultures, much of the iconography reflected interactions of humans with the natural world. The author identifies persistent design themes that reflect the myths and beliefs of these ancient peoples.

Enriched by current scholarship, this beautifully produced volume fills a major gap in the knowledge of and appreciation for the art and cultures of the ancient Americas. It serves as both an introduction to this unique and relatively unknown culture and a resource for scholars in pre-Columbian history, art, and culture.

Review Quotes

"Painting the Cosmos focuses on masterworks in pottery of the Indigenous culture of Coclé, representing one of the great art styles of the pre-Hispanic Americas. The ceramics of the Coclé culture of central Panama are comparable in beauty and sophistication to those of the Maya, Moche, Mimbres, and other Indigenous peoples of the Americas. This artwork represents a deep appreciation of the natural world and an effort to incorporate it into a comprehensive belief system that reflects the intellectual life of the ancient Indigenous artisans of Panama."--John W. Hoopes, coeditor of Gold and Power in Ancient Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia