Ritual Beauty paints a portrait of social, political and religious life in the ancient Americas, the setting in which these exceptional works of art were created. An overview of the PreColumbian world prior to European contact by Joanne Stuhr is followed by essays on Mesoamerican and Andean cultures, shamanism, and textile arts that contribute important scholarship from eminent experts in the field: Peter T. Furst, Margaret Young Sánchez, and Marta Turok. The volume is richly illustrated and annotated with artifacts from both Mesoamerica and the Andean region and the readable and informative essays are suitable for the layperson as well as the scholar.
