Room 2, Vitrine 8
Ceramic bottle
Peruvian Northern Coast
Formative Epoch (1250 BC – 1 AD)
ML040218
The anthropomorphizing of the feline in pre-Columbian art marks a key moment in the development of these cultures. The religions of the Formative Epoch created gods in human form but with the supernatural powers of the feline.
On Earth, the supreme leaders assume the power of the feline. The great religious, political and economic power they accumulated enabled the development of more efficient production methods. The faces of these figures are a combination of human features and those of the feline, such as teeth, whiskers and almond-shaped eyes.