Huaco retrato, which translates to Huaco Portrait are sculpted out of ceramic (clay) (they can also be found in wood) that were found in the huacas, or sacred temples, hence their name.
What is a huaco-portrait or huaco retrato?
Huacos retratos are enigmatic vessels in the form of a human head and face. They are a form of realistic art by the Moche (Mochica) culture under the greater umbrella of Pre-Columbian art.
Huaco retratos were often buried ceremoniously with leaders, warriors, authorities of the time and can be seen in a variety of styles and forms. They are a part of Peruvian national heritage and are hundreds, if not thousands of years old.
In archaeology, huaco-portraits are the artefacts that archaeologists and historians have spent the most time studying. They may also be referred to as “head-portraits” and were likely created for ceremonial uses (Blanco, 2018). Their necks’ design, which opens over the top of the garment and is unique to this culture’s funeral rites, justifies this.
What makes the huaco retrato so special?
What is particular about the huaco retrato, compared to other ceramic pieces of these cultures is that the huaco retratos represent detailed faces (portraits) of the Andean peoples of the time. They were hand modeled with great precision and are thought to depict leaders of that time and region, although mythological figures, both human and anima-like in appearance, are also depicted.
The ceramic pieces of the Moche contain many forms of symbolism, where images become quite abstract and conceptual. There are even pieces that combine symbolic and realistic elements. (It was probably all the San Pedro they consumed… 🙂
Beyond their beauty and age, huaco-portraits are unique works that, in the eyes of experts, demonstrate the influence the Moche culture held at the time. They are significant because they provide insight into the Mochica political establishment. They also help us comprehend the purposes and responsibilities of social and religious life in the Moche group.
The most current research on huaco-portraits suggests that they may not have been as concerned with specific personas as they were with categories of people, or the representatives of various social types. These artifacts would only be placed in Moche tombs as a sign of acknowledgment and membership, indicating that the deceased belonged to this pre-Hispanic society.
How were huaco-portaits used?
Although ceremonial vessels have also been discovered in residential settings, according to Berniere, they are most prevalent in the context of funerals. It is a funeral offering that can be discovered in both humble and prestigious tombs. According to the author, it was via these writings that the Moche articulated both his social identity as well as his own and his ancestors’ views on death.
Julio C. Tello also suggested that the Moche huaco-portraits served a ceremonial function, identifying these objects serve as a memorial to the departed ancestors. They could not be used for everyday purposes because they were mysterious figures and cult items (Woloszyn, 2008).
These objects were merely images of the people who were interred in these tombs and who were a part of the mummification process, according to experts like Urteaga and Lopez (quoted by Woloszyn, 2008). The artwork’s ritualistic goal was to ensure that there would be life after death.
More about the Mochica culture
The Mochica, or Moche, culture developed along the northern coast of modern-day Peru, in the Moche river valley, between 100 aC and 1000 dC, as a result of a union between the Cupisnique, Salinar, Vicus and Virú cultures.
According to Larco Hoyle, who is quoted by Woloszyn in The Silent Faces, there are five stylistic eras in the huaco-portraits of the Mochica civilization. The historian claims that between phases III and IV of the Moche civilisation, the method was refined and production rose.