Guatemala stakes claim to stone lintel by ‘the Michelangelo of the pre-Columbian era’ that was repatriated to Mexico

October Gallery Museum
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The stone lintel by Mayuy that was recently repatriated to Mexico Courtesy the Consulate General of Mexico in New York
A Maya stone lintel was recently returned to Mexico after it was taken to the Mexican consulate in New York by an unnamed US businessman. But hours after its official repatriation on 16 April, experts determined the piece had actually come from Guatemala. Guatemala’s cultural ministry has now formally requested the object’s repatriation from the Mexican government through diplomatic channels.
Guatemala’s cultural ministry said in a statement that technical analysis based on bibliographic research, comparative studies and consultations with archaeologists had concluded that the lintel came from the country’s Petén Basin. Consequently, it is considered part of Guatemala’s cultural heritage.
Guatemala’s cultural minister, Luis Méndez Salinas, said the government has already begun formal efforts to recover the artefact. The process is being coordinated through Guatemala’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “There is a very positive attitude, as has been the case in recent years, towards this type of collaboration,” Méndez told local media in Guatemala, “so that cultural heritage can return to its place of origin.”
The limestone lintel, dating from the Mesoamerican Classic period (AD600-AD900), shows a complex ritual scene associated with the Maya ruler Cheleew Chan K’inich. The lintel remained hidden from public view for decades and passed through private collections before recently reappearing in New York.
The repatriation ceremony at the Mexican consulate in New York Courtesy the Consulate General of Mexico in New York
According to the archaeologist Stephen Houston, one of the world’s leading experts on the Maya civilisation, the lintel is indeed from Guatemala—created by an elite artist known as Mayuy. The artist, originally from the ancient Maya city of Piedras Negras, was “the Michelangelo of the pre-Columbian era”, Houston tells The Art Newspaper. Mayuy’s signature remains visible on the stone more than 1,200 years after it was made.
“He is one of the only artists in ancient America who can be named and whose oeuvre can be studied,” Houston says. “He signed his sculptures. He was extraordinarily inventive, fusing in his carvings relationships among gods, the ordering of the cosmos and dynastic machinations. Kings and aristocrats mapped their identities onto those of gods, and Mayuy shows this masterfully. He rendered stone as living flesh, deployed colour on his carvings with verve and imparted an almost unparalleled sense of vital, dynamic energy.”
In Houston’s 2021 book A Maya Universe in Stone, he devotes the opening chapter to this particular lintel, bringing together historical records and research related to the piece and its provenance. The artefact was documented by explorers in the 1950s, before it was illegally removed from the Guatemalan jungle and entered the international antiquities market. It is part of a series of four Maya lintels now divided between private collections in the US and the Kimbell Art Museum in Texas.
According to Houston, the lintel was originally discovered on the Guatemalan side of the Usumacinta River. Maya territory once extended across both sides of the river, now part of the border between Mexico and Guatemala, explaining the confusion surrounding the object’s exact origin.
In all, 83 artefacts scheduled to be sold in Paris next week are protected under Mexican law, authorities say
A skull relief carving hailing from the ancient Mayan city of Chichén Itzá has been repatriated
The delicately carved choker necklace was found during excavations for the Maya Train project in the Yucatán Peninsula
Objects ranging from the 1st century to the 15th century were handed over at the Mexican consulate in Los Angeles earlier this month
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The October Gallery Museum places art in the community. Here are partner locations where you can have an art experience.
Some locations art is installed inside buildings and visits are during regular business hours. Other locations are by appointment only. Schools are not open to the public. In addition, we have many outdoor installations that you can enjoy around the clock. Check each location below for details. Tours are available upon request. 215-352-3114.
Here are some of our patrons that have donated art and art related items installed as part of our Art in the Community program. Thanks!
Watson and Sonia Brown
Stephanie Daniel
Chad Cortez Everett
Gail Gaines
Dr. Darryl J. Ford
Kelly R. Harrison
Deborah Kelly
Betty Ann D. Lawrence
David Lawrence
Leon McDuffie
Michael Muhammad
Jay R. Ogilvie
Marjorie H. Ogilvie
Junious Rhone, Sr.
Robin Rhone
Shirley Rhone
April Rice
Karen Roach
Monica Rocha
Steve Satell
Deborah Stephens
Staci Watson 
Stephanie R. West
Horace Wright

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Art and art related items may be returned to October Gallery in good condition within twenty (20) days of the purchase for store credit ONLY – unless otherwise stated on an invoice.
Items on layaway or even items paid for will be held by the gallery for no more than ninety (90) days from the original sale date. Refund is in store credit ONLY – unless other stated on an invoice.

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