Mono Ehécatl

The buccal mask in a bird’s beak shape painted in red appears three times in this sculpture, associated with religious worship of Ehécatl-Quetzalcóatl, god of the wind since it is its distinctive attribute. The spider monkey represented in this figure, has a buccal mask and stands on a coiled rattlesnake whose head, also with the glyph of Ehécatl, stands and rests on the right leg. It has the arms bent upwards holding its tail, which was depicted as a snake whose face also has a buccal mask in a bird’s beak shape. The crossed monkey feet give a helicoidal movement to the body, like a metaphor for the wind that moves in whirls. According to the Nahua mythology, the second era, called Sun of wind (Ehecatonatiuh), was presided by Quetzalcóatl until it was destroyed by strong winds and humanity was turned into monkeys.This interesting sculpture was found in the Temple of Ehécatl during the excavations when the Pino Suarez station of the Metro system was built in Historic Center, Mexico City. It was found as an offering at the foot of a stair, broken into pieces, which means that it was ritually “killed” before being buried.Arqlga. Bertina Olmedo Vera