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Alessandro Baccari Photograph "Chantico Fire Goddess" 2001 -Clearance! - $500 (Santa Barbara)
condition:
like new
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Professionally Framed
Comes with the auction catalog
One of four prints of this image, the others are in private collections.
A Photographic revelation by Alessandro Baccari.
"Every Image is a Prayer."
Chantico is depicted as having a yellow face marked with two red lines, which designate her as a fire goddess, and a yellow body.Said red lines are placed at around the same height as black strokes seen in depiction of Xolotl.She is referred to as "mujer amarilla" ("yellow woman").
In Aztec mythology, Chantico is the goddess of fire in the family hearth and volcanoes. She is also the protector of wealth and precious things as volcanic fires were known to form valuable metals and stones. Ancient Aztecs prayed to Chantico to bestow wealth and stability upon their homes.
In Aztec religion, Chantico is the deity reigning over the fires in the family hearth. She broke a fast by eating paprika with roasted fish, and was turned into a dog by Tonacatecuhtli as punishment. She was associated with the town of Xochimilco, stone-cutters, as well as warriorship. Chantico was described in various Pre-Columbian and colonial codices.
The photograph honors the heritage of Latin American women.
Baccari -- photographer, writer, painter, poet and unofficial ambassador of North Beach where he grew up – was 91 years old in 2020. Famed photographers Edward Weston, Paul Strand and Ansel Adams were among his father’s many illustrious friends who also influenced him as a child.