06/07/2026
June 8, 8:00 PM ET
Aztlander Virtual Event:
"Painting the Effigy Censers of Palenque: A Diachronic Study of Color and Materials”
with Ángela Ejarque Gallardo, PhD, SECIHTI Postdoctoral Researcher at Coordinación Nacional de Conservación del
Patrimonio Cultural, CNCPC-INAH, México
Access this active hyperlink to join the event:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83649128298
The artists of Palenque developed a distinctive chromatic universe that shaped the city’s cultural identity for more than six centuries. From the beginning of the Early Classic period (200 CE), Palenque artistic production was closely tied to political and religious spheres, as evidenced by the effigy censers of the Cross Group. These objects constitute a chronological sequence that allows us to trace cultural and stylistic evolution within a deeply symbolic visual tradition.
Within this framework, color functioned as a medium for materializing ritual and political discourse. Changes in the use and materiality of color reveal two key moments of pictorial transformation: around the mid-fourth century (350 CE) and the early eighth century (700 CE).
The manipulation of raw materials – minerals with chromatic properties, natural earths, indigo, and clays – allowed artisans to create a broad chromatic palette with diverse hues, tonalities, and saturation levels. Through pigment mixtures, the superimposition of painted layers, and the preparation of different mediums (including ceramics, stucco, and stone) artists expanded the visual and material possibilities of creative practices. Through this interplay between color, technology, and materiality, meaning was constructed and Palenque visual ideology was articulated across time. This presentation explores how these transformations involved not only shifts in chromatic preferences, but also technological innovations in pigment manufacturing and preparation.
Ángela Ejarque Gallardo studied Art History and Archaeology at the Universitat de València, in Spain. She completed an M.A. in Mesoamerican Studies (2015–2017) and a PhD in Art History (2019–2024) at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City. Since 2018, she has collaborated with the LANCIC laboratory at the Institute of Physics, UNAM, and is currently a SECIHTI postdoctoral fellow at the Coordinación Nacional de Conservación del Patrimonio Cultural, of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, where she is developing a project on the documentation and identification of polychromy in the Maya city of Palenque.
Her research focuses on the study of archaeological and artistic materials through Heritage Science, with particular emphasis on color, pictorial technology, and ceramics. She has worked on the relationship between pigments and funerary practices at Teotihuacan and currently focuses on the technological study of color in archaeological collections from the Chiapas region, including Palenque and Tonina.
And
“In Search of Maya Jade: Exploring Historic and Contemporary Artworks”
now on our You Tube page
Access this active hyperlink to view the recording:
https://youtu.be/-RzThzgyQt8
