| Object Name: | Dialogue between Eagle and Jaguar, from the Templo Major |
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| Creation Date: | 1325-1521 A. D. | |
| Culture: | Aztec, Post-Classic | |
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| The pattern of opposition and duality evident in the juxtapositions of the sun disk with earth monster, of sky band with earth band, is to be found in several others emblems. Frequently paired are the jaguar and the eagle, referring to the elite warriors who were metaphorically called "eagles and jaguars". This phrase is usually derived from the eagle and jaguar animal costumes that the Aztecs wore into battle, but few indications suggest that eagle costumes were actually worn, though we know that there were jaguar costumes. The visual representation of eagles and jaguars comes from the verbal metaphor, not from observation, another example of the close relationship between the visual arts and verbal expression. In the jaguar-eagle dualism, the images are both alike and opposite. Both refer to valiant warriors: the eagle is creature of the sky, however, and the jaguar a creature of the land. In Aztec thought the jaguar was an animal of the underworld, and the two animals were in some way opposites like the sun disk and the earth monster. Both can also be images of the sun while descending (eagle), and while dead in the underworld (jaguar). This solar association refers to the Aztec warrior cult and its primary function, the acquiring of the victims to nourish the sun. The Aztec eagle-jaguar emblem is usually a secondary image, not the focal point of the design. | ||
