The embrace of Ai Apaec

Room 5, Vitrine 44

• This sculptural pitcher depicts the mythological Moche hero Ai Apaec, recognizable by his serpent-headed belt and ear adornments, and his feline fangs, embracing and at the same time clutching the hair of an individual with the appearance of a prisoner, with his plumed headdress, tunic, belt and bag on his back.
• The piece has been modeled in the form of a tuber, probably as an allusion to the sacrifice that occurs in the underworld, the world of the ancestors. The prisoner symbolizes the offering of life made by the hero to the earth.
• In order to ensure the continuity of the cycle of life, two events were considered necessary: the union of a fertilizing male deity with Mother Earth, and an offering of sacrificial blood that would enable the renewal of life’s essential cycle, as occurs in nature.
• Moche culture, Florescent Epoch (1 AD – 800 AD), ML004364.

ML004364

ML004364