The Jay I. Kislak !
Foundation!
Gallery!
The School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida!
Ms. Perla Tabares Hantman, Chair!
Dr. Lawrence S. Feldman, Vice Chair!
Dr. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall!
Mr. Carlos Curbelo!
Mr. Renier Diaz de la Portilla!
Dr. Wilbert “Tee” Holloway!
Dr. Martin S. Karp!
Dr. Marta Perez!
Ms. Raquel Regalado!
Ms. Hope Wilcox!
Student Advisor!
Mr. Alberto M. Carvalho!
Superintendent of Schools!
Ms. Milagros R. Fornell!
Associate Superintendent!
Curriculum and Instruction!
Dr. Maria P. de Armas!
Assistant Superintendent!
Curriculum and Instruction (K-12 Core Curriculum)!
Mr. John Doyle!
Administrative Director!
Curriculum and Instruction, Division of Social Sciences and Life Skills!
Matthew Sabatella!
Curriculum Support Specialist!
Curriculum and Instruction, Diivision of Social Sciences and Life Skills
!
Kislak Collection Information
Early in his career Jay Kislak developed an interest in the history. When he
moved to Florida from New Jersey he began collecting the artifacts you
will see in the Kislak gallery.
His interest in the history of Florida, Mexico, and the Caribbean led to a
large collection of maps, books, and manuscripts. Many of the maps, some
dating from the 1500’s, can be seen on the first floor of the Kislak building.!
Map of Florida. Engraved map by Jacques le Moyne de Moegues, published by Theodor de Bry, in
Breves Narratio, Frankfort, 1591 (image from Wikipedia.org)
!
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Mr. Kislak and his wife, an art curator, expanded the collection to
include pre-Columbian artifacts from Mesoamerica and the Caribbean.
This collection highlights the richness of the civilizations that the
Spanish explorers found.
It focuses on the early Americas from the time of the indigenous
people of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean through the
period of European contact, exploration, and settlement and includes
artifacts from Pre Columbian Taino, Olmec, Maya, Aztec and other
civilizations and cultures in Mesoamerica from 1200 BC until the
arrival of Hernan Cortes in 1521.
Eventually Mr. and Mrs. Kislak collected a massive quantity of rare books,
maps, and artifacts.
In March of 2005 the Kislaks donated over 4,000 objects to The Library of Congress
in Washington D.C.
The Jay I. Kislak Collection, The Cultures and History of the Americas, at the Library
of Congress in Washington D.C., features rare books, maps, documents, paintings,
prints, and artifacts from Mesoamerica.!
Rivera, Diego (1886-1957)
Illustrations for the Popol Vuh,
1930-1931.
Diego Rivera’s work of a series of
illustrations for a translation of the
Popol Vuh by North American writer
John Weatherwax
(The Jay I. Kislak Collection, Library
of Congress)
CHRONOLOGY: MESOAMERICAN TIMELINE
Archaeologists divide Mesoamerican civilization development into three
major time periods:
•  the Pre Classic or Formative period extending from 1500 B.C. - A.D. 300
•  the Classic period extending from A.D. 300-950
•  the Post Classic period extending from A.D. 950-1521
THE PRECLASSIC PERIOD
As Mesoamerican populations developed more intensive agricultural
techniques, political specialists began to govern their societies.
Eventually, population increase led to competition for localized resources.
Political leaders organized cooperative farming ventures, that could be
applied just as effectively to mobilizing military forces.
In this way Pre Classic leaders secured the powers they needed to
centralize authority.
Forms of writing begin to appear as early as 500 B.C. in Oaxaca. Between
500 and 200 B.C. ceremonial centers emerged in the Maya lowlands.
THE CLASSIC PERIOD
In the Classic period urban state societies emerged throughout Mesoamerica. The
foremost was Teotihuacán. Boasting a population of over 100,000 inhabitants, it was
one of the largest cities in the world between A.D. 200-700.
Enduring civic-ceremonial centers like Tikal, Palenque, Copán and scores of other
powerful lowland Maya city-states, evolved from Pre Classic communities located
deep of Guatemala’s jungle.
By A.D. 300, monuments with hieroglyphic texts describing divine origins illustrate
the transformation of social organization from chiefdoms to institutionalized kingship.
Then by A.D. 900, most of the great centers had been abandoned, some after
experiencing continuous growth for over a millenia.
There are many theories postulated to explain societal collapse, but no single factor
tells the whole story. Most ideas focus on the fundamental instability of Classic elite
socio-political organizations compounded by environmental degradation; climatic
changes and the depletion of resources due to overpopulation.
Some areas witnessed a brief florescence of secondary-states between A.D. 800-1200
- an era sometimes called the Epi-Classic. Ceremonial centers such as Uxmal,
Xochicalco, Cacaxtla, and El Tajín were renowned for their artistic developments in
intricate mosaic stone facades and fresco painting.
THE POSTCLASSIC PERIOD
During the Post Classic period, regional governments became highly segmented and
commercially oriented. Emphasis was placed on the development of “great houses,”
networks of enclosed rooms and courts ideally suited not only to royal feasts that were an
integral part of long distance alliance formation, but also to the proliferation of an
unequaled level of art and craft production.
It was at this time that competition for access into exchange networks became so
pronounced that traders and craftspeople were driven to seek out the rarest and most
exotic materials to maximize the value of their gifts.
The technology for smelting gold, silver, and copper, was introduced from Central and
South America, while turquoise mined in the American southwest was exchanged for the
plumage of Scarlet Macaws.Never before had the Mesoamerican economy been exposed
to so many rare materials from such far away places.
After the fall of Tula, a Toltec city-state, Aztec peoples moved south to Lake Texcoco.
Eventually they were able to affect the balance of power in the region to such a degree
that they were granted royal marriages with venerable Toltec families.
By 1450, the Méxica, now the most powerful of seven original Aztec groups, incorporated
their former rivals and together they conquered an empire. Eventually, they gave their
name to the nation of México, while their city of Tenochtitlán became what we know as
México City today.
Mesoamerican Cultures!
Some of the Mesoamerican Mexican cultures include the Aztec, Maya, Oaxaca,
and Teotihuacan. The Andes cultures include the Inka, Chimu, Wari, Tiwanku,
Moche, and Chavin.
Writing in Ancient Mesoamerica!
Evidence has been found that confirms early dates for a Pre-Classic
Olmec writing system. Artifacts have been discovered bearing glyphs
dating to 650 B.C.
The Maya, Mixtec, and Aztec used colorfully painted screenfold books
and carved and painted glyphs on walls and monuments, and stelae.
However, the Maya had the most advanced writing system.
There are only about 30 phonetic sounds in the Maya language so a purely
phonetic alphabet could in theory be written with 30 signs. At this time,
about 800 glyphs have been identified that correspond to verbs, nouns,
adjectives, and particles. Many of the glyphs have two or more meanings.
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Maya Writing!
Pre-Columbian Maya books are
called codices or screen-folded
manuscripts because each book
was made of a long strip of paper
which was folded like a screen. The
paper was made from the inner bark
of various species of fig tree (Ficus
cotonifolia, Ficus padifolia) which
was pounded into a pulp with stone
implements called bark beaters.
Natural gums were used as a
bonding substance to hold the pulp
together. A coating of fine white lime
was applied to both sides of the
paper sheets to provide a smooth
finish upon which to paint
hieroglyphs, calendars and figures.
The codices were painted on both
sides of the paper so to read them
you would read along one side of
the paper strip, from left to right,
and then turn the codex over and
read the other side.
Maya Writing!
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The Popol Vuh
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The Popol Vuh or council book recounts the ideas and
traditions, origins and dynastic chronology up to the year
1550 of the ancient Quiché Maya.
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Beginning as oral tradition, handed down through
generations of story tellers, the Popol Vuh was sent down in
hieroglyphic form on ceramics and stelae, then into an
“alphabetic substitute” before being transcribed and
translated into Spanish by the Dominican friar Francisco
Ximénez in the 18th century.
The Popol Vuh is also the creation story of the Maya. One
story tells of the first attempts of the creator, Heart of Sky to
make humans. The story explains the final attempt that
resulted in the "True people", which was accomplished by
constructing people with maize. It was the cultivation of maize
that gave the early Maya culture the means to change from
hunter gatherers to their highly advanced civilization.
The Ball Game!
The original ball game may have begun with the ancient Olmec civilization over
3,000 years ago but was played throughout Mesoamerica for fun, the settle local
disputes and wars, and for religious rituals.
It is the first documented organized sport in history dating at least from 2500 BC.
The game was a sort of combination of volleyball, basketball, and soccer. The
ball was not allowed to touch the ground. It was bounced off the walls of the
court and off the players themselves.
It was a dangerous game that symbolized the battle between life and death and
included human sacrifice.
Conflict, War Fare and Sacrifice
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found at ball courts.!
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much Late Classic ballgame art and appear repeatedly in the Popol Vuh.
There has even been speculation that the heads and skulls were used as
balls.!
The Ball Players Uniform!
Ceramic Kneeling Ball
Player, Guatemalan
Highlands,
Kaminaljuyu. Middle
Classic, AD 400-700
Duane Hanson
Sculpture of Dolphin
football player,
Robert Tilley.
Deflection off a player's midsection was one of the primary techniques of
the Mesoamerican ballgame, during which the player's hands were used
only at the beginning to put the ball into play.
Because the rubber ball itself could injure or kill, significant resources
were invested in equipment to protect against broken bones and damaged
internal organs
Parts of a Ball Players Uniform!
A Ceremonial Ballgame yoke with
reptilian earth monster, Gulf Coast
Classic Ca.450-650 AD.
It took thousands of hours to make
stone yokes like this. They were used
before and after games during
ceremonies.
It is thought that the stone yokes,
weighing as much as 50 pounds, are
ceremonial versions of leather, cotton,
and/or wood yokes, although no such
perishable artifacts have yet been
unearthed.
The yokes and hachas (axes), have
been found from Teotihuacan to
Guatemala.
Hachas, made of stone, were set on
the yoke, in front of the player,
possibly to help control the ball or as
a component of the ceremonial
dress.
Hachas may also have been used as
markers along the sides of the court.
The Ball Court!
Vessel Modeled as I-Shaped Ball Court, Guatemala, Kaminaljuyu.
Terminal Pre classic, 200 BC - AD 200.
Incised black-brown ceramic with traces of red hematite.
A remarkably faithful model of an architectural ball court with expanded end zones
and high tapered sidewalls bearing four serpent heads.
There are two round openings on opposite sides of the centerline – symbolic
openings to the underworld.
The top and sides surfaces are decorated with crosshatched meanders that may
be proto-Maya earth symbols appropriate to ballgame symbolism.
This is one of the oldest depictions of a ball court.
Variations of Ball Courts!
Thousands of ball courts have been found throughout Mesoamerica: as far
north as Arizona, south as Nicaragua and on the Taino islands of Cuba,
Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Ball court with visible marker, Yaxchilan,
Mexico
Ballcourt, Zaculeu, Guatemala
Taxtle, Cantona, Mexico
Ball court with ring, Xochialco, Mexico
!
The Ball!
The Olmecs were the first to use rubber, which is
how the Olmecs got their name.
In the language Nahuatl, olli is the word for rubber
and Olmec is “the people who use rubber”.
The Olmecs would use the rubber from the trees to
create balls about the size of a hand.
The rubber gave the balls the ability to bounce,
however they were hard and solid enough to cause
injuries.
The ball, or ulli, was made
of hard rubber and weighed
about 9 pounds.
It is not known with any certainty the sizes or
weights of the balls actually used in the ballgame.
it is presumed by most researchers that the ancient
hip-ball was roughly the size of a volleyball, and
weighed between 6-9 lbs or 15 times heavier than
the air-filled volleyball.
The ball used in the ancient handball or stickball
game was probably slightly larger and heavier than
a modern-day baseball.
This etching of two ball players (jugglers) is the first etching of
indigenous people Europeans had seen.
There was nothing in any of their books or religion that referred to
dark skinned people. Therefore the Europeans did not consider
these people as human. They saw the indigenous people as evolving
animals.
Ulama descended from the
Aztec version of the
Mesoamerican ballgame, the
game is one of the oldest
continuously played sports in
the world, and is also the
oldest known game utilizing a
rubber ball. Its roots extend
back to at least 2000 BC.
Taino Reliquary Drum!
Taino culture in Haiti, 1200-1500 AD
Taino people lived from 700-1500 AD in Puerto
Rico, Hispanola, Eastern Cuba and other
geographic areas within the Caribbean rim. They
were among the first indigenous people in the New
World to be encountered by Columbus. The term
Taino now is used to encompass the Arawak
culture.
By the 18th century, Taíno society had been devastated
by introduced diseases such as smallpox, as well as
other factors such as intermarriages and forced
assimilation into the plantation economy that Spain
imposed in its Caribbean colonies, with its subsequent
importation of African slave workers. The first recorded
smallpox outbreak in Hispaniola occurred in December
1518 or January 1519
IronwoodNprobably made
from a hollowed out
portion of a tree trunk.
Peruvian Feather Panels!
Featherworking was a widespread in Peru in
Pre Columbian times. Feathers were used in rituals as
well as to embellish festive and ceremonial garments
and ornaments of persons of high rank. Particularly
sought after were the brilliantly colored feathers of
rain-forest birds.
The feather panels were made by the Wari people of
Peru and have a remarkably modern feel.
Well-preserved examples of featherwork are rare,
because feathers are easily damaged and decompose.
Featherwork was made by adding feathers to cloth
after the cloth was woven. Individual feathers were
secured to a cord, which was then sewn to the cloth.
The plumes were considered luxury goods on a par
with precious metals, shells and gemstones.
Macaws and other parrots supplied most of the plumage, but that of other species — Muscovy ducks,
flamingos, egrets and the petite paradise tanager — were also prized.
Some colors were produced artificially. Birds with green and blue feathers were plucked and then
rubbed with frog secretions; the feathers would then grow back in an unnatural yellow-orange hue.
Hunchback Dwarf Figures!
Dwarfs occur often in Classic Maya
sculpture and vase painting.
From our knowledge of Maya
iconography, they appear to be
connected with celestial gods.
For example, at Yaxchilán, dwarfs
appear in a bas-relief as stars
watching a ball game.
In the cave of Taj Tunich, they
appear to form a link between ball
game, underworld, and sky.
Early people had a belief that dwarfism indicated special spiritual gifts. The horn emerging
from the top of the head is known as a shaman horn and it is from here that the magic was
believed to issue. The existence of these figures indicates the esteem ancient people held
for the magical powers persons with these conditions held.
The figure on the left that is crouching and leaning forward, has an infantile face and
mustache. In both figures, the hands are small and the legs are bent and stocky. In the
darker brown clay version, ribs show. These perhaps represent either dwarfism or
mongolism (Down’s syndrome).
Throne Offering Box!
A ceramic throne offering box
features flanking serpent heads
from which emerge a scribe and
an old god.
A bearded lord clad in turban and
other royal garb, sits on a jaguar
pelt thrown over the seat, its
paws hanging over the edge.
A jaguar was considered a
sacred animal because he could
hunt day and night, on land or in
water.
Many of the details are painted
with "Maya blue", a special color
which denotes the importance of
this personage.
Pre Columbian Jewelry!
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HEAVY GOLD DOUBLE PENDANT
Panama Cocle culture
A.D. 500-1200
Lost-wax cast gold
Ht. 10 cm (4"). W. 14 cm (5.5")
Weighing 363 grams, this is an extraordinarily
bold casting. A pair of joined "dragons" with
curved conical bodies breath out flanking
openwork serpents. A double- headed
serpent emblem is cast between the heads.
The entire superstructure, including scrolls,
is carried out in full round, with the rear
duplicated as intricately as the front. The
dragonheads are hollow, and the conical
bodies are open on the back.
!"#$"%&"#'("%E+%D70Q#%!73$2//5>33/0%
1506 Birth Certificate of America!
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Cuzco School Archangel Paintings!
After 1534, with the Spanish conquest of the
Incas, a Roman Catholic artistic tradition
originated in Peru.
The Spanish sent a group of religious artists to
Cuzco. In an effort to help convert the
indigenous people to Catholicism, the Quechua
(kech-wa) --former ruling class of the Incas-were taught western painting traditions.
The art school was formed for the Quechuas and
later the Mestizos (mixed race ancestry - Spanish
& Indian) to teach, mostly men, drawing and
painting.
The school continued into the 17th century.
Largest collection is in the Cathedral in Cuzco
but there are also many displayed at the Lima Art
Museum and the Inca Art Museum also in Lima.
Cuzco, Peru, the former capitol of the
Inca Empire. 17th c. (16th, 17th and
18th centuries)
Pocket Globes 1700-1800’s!
Although the popularity of pocket globes
peaked in the first half of the 18th century,
makers continued to produce the items
into the 19th century.
Pocket Globes had several functions
including acting as status symbols for
wealthy gentlemen and educational tools
for children.
They were made of cheap materials such as papier mâché but also wood or ivory. Cases were
often made of fish skin and lined with celestial gores, in the case of terrestrial globes.
It is unlikely that pocket globes served precise practical ends; their size makes accurate
calculations impossible.
It has been suggested that children possibly suspended the globe near a candle, representing
the Sun, to demonstrate the passing of day into night. Some pocket globes have a hole drilled
through their spindle, which could have been threaded with a cord for hanging.
LETTER FROM CHARLES V TO HERNAN CORTES
Charles V - (Carlos Quinto), the Holy Roman Emperor and the
King of Spain wrote the letter, displayed in the Kislak gallery, to
Hernan Cortes, his governor of ”New Spain” (Mexico), in 1524
Charles V wrote to recommend a friend for preferential treatment
by Cortes. At this time, Cortes was building Mexico City, on top of
Aztec temples, which he had torn down.
Although King Carlos had made him governor, he didn’t trust
Cortes. He had 4 royal officials appointed to advise him, in effect
submitting him to close observation. One year before this letter
was written, the king sent a military force under Francisco de
Garay to conquer the northern part of Mexico, which cut into
Cortes’s power base.
This is a hand-made copy of the letter probably made by the King’s secretary. Because of the way it
has been folded, we can deduce that this was a copy that would have been kept in a card file. The
original would have been sent by ship.
History tells us that Cortes was a greedy and ambitious man who wanted to be given more power.
His contemporaries feared him because of his reputation for violence. Among other things, he stole
and burned an adversary’s ships and put out the eye of the Puerto Rican governor.
He spent 7 years trying to bring the Indians of Mexico to peace. But was eventually removed from his
position by the king and sent back to Spain.
In 1530, Cortes returned to Mexico, explored the Pacific coast and died there in 1547. The Sea of
Cortes is named after him. Carlos V of Spain died in 1556.
Acknowledgements!
Many thanks to !
Mr. And Mrs Jay Kislak, !
Mr. Arthur Dunkleman, !
and the staff at the J. Kislak Gallery!
for their support and encouragement. !
Compiled by Evelyn Davila!