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Tuesday, February 10, 2009 – Quetzalcoatl Lives
It's a Toltec Warrior –
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This is the Toltec Warrior mural at the El Chavo Restaurant, 4441 Sunset Boulevard, where Sunset meets Hollywood Boulevard – Sunset Junction. The local public television station, KCET, is next door – anyone working there can look out the north windows and stare at this guy all day. And they can think about this:
The Toltecs expanded the cult of Quetzalcoatl, the "Sovereign Plumed Serpent," and created a mythology around the figure. In Toltec legend, Quetzalcoatl was the creator of humanity and a warrior-god that had been driven from Tula, but would return some day.
And why it's here, at a Mexican restaurant –
The Toltecs conquered large areas controlled by the Maya and settled in these areas; they migrated as far south as the Yucatán peninsula. The culture borne out of this fusion is called the Toltec-Maya, and its greatest center was Chichén Itzá - on the very tip of the Yucatan peninsula. Chichén Itzá was the last great center of Mayan civilization. The Toltec-Maya cultures greatly expanded the cultural diffusion of Mayan thought, religion, and art north into the Valley of Mexico.
So now you know.
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Immediately to the right, another culture –
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Immediately to the left –
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If you wish to use any of these photos for commercial purposes I assume you'll discuss that with me. And should you choose to download any of these images and use them invoking the "fair use" provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976, please provide credit, and, on the web, a link back to this site.
Technical Note:
These photographs were taken with a Nikon D200 – the lenses used were AF-S Nikkor 18-70 mm 1:35-4.5G ED, or AF Nikkor 70-300 mm telephoto. The high-resolution photography here was modified for web posting using Adobe Photoshop 7.0 software.
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All text and photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 - Alan M. Pavlik
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