A woman appears paired with an ugly old man who leers at her as he lifts her skirt and feels her thigh; she presses her knee to his groin, offering herself, and embraces him with her left hand as she reaches for his face with her right. Nothing else in Maya art conveys sexuality more convincingly that these figures. Although they may be conceived as the moon goddess and her consorts, they also reflect human behavior. As companions for the dead - perhaps particularly for old men - they seem to promise renewed sexual activity. For the living, such Jaina figurines may have been titillating objects for private observation.
|
