Archaeologists in Mexico have found the first temple to the pre-Hispanic deity Xipe Totec, a god of fertility and war who was worshipped by sacrificing and skinning captives. Evidence indicates that priests ritually sacrificed their victims on one of the temple’s two circular altars, then flayed them on the other and draped themselves in their skin, Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History said in a statement. Historians have long known that Xipe Totec (“the flayed god”) was worshipped by numerous peoples across what is now central and western Mexico and the Gulf coast. But the discovery — made among the ruins of the Ndachjian-Tehuacan archeological site in the central state of Puebla — is the first time a temple dedicated to the god has been found, the institute said. The artefacts uncovered at the site include three stone sculptures of Xipe Totec: two skinned heads and a torso, whose back is covered in engravings representing the sacrificial skins worn by the god.

Commissioned by the McNay Art Museum from New Orleans-native Anastasia Pelias, mama is comprised of a monumental sculpture immersed within a painted landscape, and is now on view at the Museum. Located on a small hill just inside the North New Braunfels gate, the installation activates the landscape of the museum grounds by creating a space the artist intends to be “a place for people to be, to think, and to meditate.” “We are thrilled to feature mama this winter on the grounds of the first modern art museum in Texas,” said Richard Aste, Director of the McNay. “It is a paragon of artistic excellence–which we have defined in San Antonio for almost 65 years–and a thoughtful, meditative addition to our growing outdoor museum experience.” Pelias’s artworks span the areas of painting, drawing, video, sculpture, and installation, united through a cultural identity combining her native Louisiana birthpl

Victory over the Sun charts the evolution of Russian avant-garde and nonconformist art over the course of the 20th century, from the eve of the Bolshevik Revolution to the collapse of the Soviet Union, demonstrating the link between artistic styles and the nation’s tumultuous history. Showcasing important loans from renowned institutions including the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, and Centre Pompidou, Paris, this in-depth exhibition presents leading figures of movements that ebbed and flowed with Russia’s social and political upheaval. “Victory over the Sun brings together some of the finest examples of the Russian avant-garde movements, highlighting the indelible connection between art and politics that existed during the rise and fall of the Soviet Union,” remarked Ido Bruno, Anne and Jerome Fisher Director of the Israel Museum. “This exhibition presents a holistic approach to exploring the artistic practic

The Musée de Grenoble is presenting an exhibition-cum-event devoted to ancient Egypt, organized with the Louvre. It proposes an archaeological plunge into the powerful city of Thebes 3000 years ago, by way of its necropolis and the monumental temple of Amun. Relying on the Grenoble collection, complemented by almost 200 works from the Musée du Louvre and other loans from European museums, the exhibition introduces visitors to the intimate life of Theban society in the Third Intermediate Period (1069 – 664 BCE). That society paying allegiance to the deity Amun-Ra in the temple at Karnak found itself, for those 500 years, at the heart of major political and economic challenges. In particular, the exhibition emphasizes the important role played by women at that time. A novel subject especially devised for Grenoble.