The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 19, 2024
Bat-Nosed Figures Pendant
1000–1550
Overall: 7.2 x 11.8 x 2.3 cm (2 13/16 x 4 5/8 x 7/8 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1998.2
Location: 233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region
Description
Both pendants depict paired figures with tusklike noses. The "tusks" perhaps refer to the upswept nose of the leaf-nosed bat, an agile hunter whose "leaf" helps it to snatch prey from midair. The bat's success as a hunter is part of the reason that some identify such paired figures as warriors. They each hold a paddle-shaped object; the larger pair, in elaborate costumes, also clutches staffs.- Cleveland Museum of Art, “Painting by 18th-century Italian Master Gaetano Gandolfi among Works Added to CMA Collection,” March 24, 1998, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
- {{cite web|title=Bat-Nosed Figures Pendant|url=false|author=|year=1000–1550|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1998.2