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Copper mask, 'Warrior God Ai Apaec'

An expressive example of Peruvian artistry from Ana Maria Enciso. She delicately shapes copper and bronze to create a mythical vision, using galvanized techniques to chemically alter the surface and create a mesmerizing tone of malachite green. The piece depicts Ai Apaec, a feline god of the ancient Moche culture. Solar earrings and bell-like accessories reflect his Andean appeal.

At Huaca de la Luna, a ceremonial structure found on the western flanks of Cerro Blanco in Peru, archaeologists discovered a polychromatic relief panel depicting Ai Apaec, the supreme god of the ancient Moche culture. The image is characterized by his feline attributes, mythical mask, prominent eyebrows, agape mouth, and sharp, aggressive fangs. Black scrolls surround his face while a rhombus appears at the center, bordered in stylish bands representative of manta rays. Ai Apaec is identified with the ideologies inherited from the epic of the Chavin and complemented by other deities, such as the serpent, the condor, or the eagle, representative of Andean culture. It is suggested that his influence is primarily cosmic and that Ai Apaec was actually a constellation in the sky.