Cities of the Gods, 1970 | From the Vaults

Shot on location in Mexico and Honduras, “Cities of the Gods” was made to accompany the groundbreaking exhibition “Before Cortés: Sculpture of Middle America,” which celebrated The Met’s centennial in 1970. The exhibition told the sweeping story of the fascinating civilizations that flourished in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean for centuries before European colonization, and brought many significant works never before seen outside their countries of origin to New York City. Fifty years later, scholarship on the Olmecs, Teotihuacan, the Maya, and the Aztecs (or Mexicas) has evolved. For example, we can now read what Maya rulers wrote about themselves and their peers. We also now know that the governance of the massive city of Teotihuacan was more complex than a ruling “priesthood,” and that a perceived “obsession with violence” in ancient Central Mexico grew from a longstanding foundational belief in reciprocity with nature. To reflect these (and many other) shifts in understanding, the Museum will renovate the galleries which house The Met’s collection of ancient American art starting in 2021.

Read more about this renovation project: https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-m...​

Download the 1970 exhibition catalogue for free: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpubl...​

As part of The Met’s 150th anniversary in 2020, each month we will release three to four films from the Museum’s extensive moving-image archive, which comprises over 1,500 films, both made and collected by the Museum, from the 1920s onward. This includes rarely seen artist profiles and documentaries, as well as process films about art-making techniques and behind-the-scenes footage of the Museum.

New films every week: https://www.metmuseum.org/150/from-th...​

Learn more about the series here: https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-a...​

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h39NdL7cqL4&list=RDCMUCDlz9C2bhSW6dcVn_PO5mYw&start_radio=1&t=6