A worker installs a sculpture of the Aztec deity Chalchiuhtlicue, dating from the 16th century, at the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden on July 26, 2021. The National Museum of Ethnology exhibits Aztec masterpieces. Some of them can be seen for the first time outside Mexico. Sander Koning / ANP / AFP.
LEIDEN
.- Life-sized warriors carved from stone, mythical human-animal figures, intricate gold jewellery, and a full-size 3D print of the sun stone: all this and more will be on display in Museum Volkenkundes Aztecs, the first exhibition about the Aztecs ever to be staged in the Netherlands. This year it is 500th years since the Aztec Empire fell to Spanish colonialists. This in fact made the Dutch and the Aztecs fellow countrymen, for at that time both served the Spanish king. Aztecs is an exhibition full of unique collection highlights that have never previously left Mexico, which dissects the myths surrounding this empire that was once believed to have been lost. A must-see for the whole family. Featuring some amazing collection highlights, the exhibition reveals the daily life of the Aztecs and their sophisticated culture. Yet the Spanish painted the Aztecs as a bloodthirsty people, in order to justify their own cruel practices. A gre ... More