The finest museum of archaeology and anthropology in the Western hemisphere, the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City owns the world's most impressive collection of pre-Columbian Mexican art, including sculpture, painting, pottery, and other works. Since it was founded in 1964, it has displayed and studied the fascinating art, artifacts, and cultures of the pre-Columbian Mexican world and its descendants, the indigenous peoples of Mexico.
Published to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the museum, this beautiful and comprehensive survey explores both its collections and its role as a national institution. The book includes 450 illustrations, many of them newly photographed masterpieces by the Mexica (Aztecs), Mayas, and other important pre-Columbian cultures, as well as sections on the archaeology and the contemporary ethnography of Mexico. Also featured are writings by foremost Mexican art historians and anthropologists. This noteworthy book serves as both an introduction to, and a complete documentation of, one of the world's great museums.