Of Clouds and Stone: An Atmospheric View of the Copán Valley Stelae, Honduras

Catherine H. Popovici, PhD, Department of Art History, Indiana University

Maya sculptor, Stela 12, c. 652 CE, Copán, Honduras, Instituto Hondureño de Antropología e Historia. Photo: Catherine H. Popovici.

NOTE: AT THE REQUEST OF OUR SPEAKER, NO YOUTUBE OR OTHER RECORDING OF THIS TALK IS TO BE MADE. PLEASE RESPECT THE WISHES OF OUR GUEST PRESENTER.

The Copan Valley stelae are a sculptural ensemble commissioned in 652 CE by K’ahk Uti’ Witz’ K’awiil, the twelfth king of the Maya city-state of Copán. Situated in foothills that rise above the valley floor, five of these sculptures feature lengthy hieroglyphic texts and two are uncarved, minimally molded by human hands. This talk will explore how various environmental circumstances influenced both the embodied viewing of these Maya stelae as well as the monuments’ own communicative capabilities. In looking at topography and weather phenomena, tonight’s speaker contends that a sculpture’s immediate environment was an integral component of its functionality.

Catherine H. Popovici, PhD, is the Robert E. and Avis Tarrant Burke Postdoctoral Fellow in Ancient and Indigenous Art of the Americas in the Department of Art History at Indiana University, Bloomington. Her work primarily focuses on visual and material landscapes in the Indigenous Americas. Her in-progress book manuscript, “Variable Atmospheres: Experiencing the Stelae of the Copán Valley, Honduras,” centers a seventh-century suite of Maya sculpture and participates in conversations across art history, anthropology, and the environmental humanities and is supported by the ACLS H. and T. King Fellowship in Ancient American Art and Culture. She has previously held positions at Johns Hopkins University, the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, the John Carter Brown Library, and the Blanton Museum of Art. Popovici earned a PhD in Art History from the University of Texas at Austin, a MA in Art History from Penn State, and a BA with High Honors in the History of Art from Smith College..

The December member-supported meeting will be presented on Zoom. This meeting is open to all but to attend you must pre-register. To register, click HERE.