Moche art

The elements of the Cupisnique, Salinar and Wirú cultures, formed the basis of the great Moche culture, the most developed culture in the North of Peru. The Moche were great sculptors, that made wonderful ceramics depicting their daily lives, customs, deseases, religion, sexual life etc. and by doing so, they've left us with a wealth of documentation about the history of pre-colombian times. They knew how to use the different materials that were found in the area. Moche art is the most strong and elevated expression of beauty realised in ancient Peru. The Moche artist is the author of perfect and unique forms and expressions. The most beautiful ceramics of the world full of life and suggestion, are the Moche ceramics. Humans, animals and vegetation are faithfully represented within sculptural lines that formed a real artistic school that we could call naturist of movement. We don't find the eyelashes, nor the colour of the faces but still we are looking at and are being seduced by those faces that are so gracefully created by the divine art that the Moche mastered. And so, in all the variety of creations, in thousands of different materials the Moche reveal themselves as the masters of all tecniques of art, even the industrialised. They are formidable modelors, sculptors, woodcarvers, engravors, smiths etc. The product of his art and industry is all that is what shines and amazes in the musea and that tells us the story of their glorious lives.The creative spirit shown in their works of art, create a mirror for later generations which reflects their cultural climate and their rich collective spirit. Text and images used with permission of the Rafael Larco Herrera Archeological Museum