The Model of Ballgame with Spectators placed in the ancient Mexican and Mesoamerican culture section at the Yale University Art Gallery is a sculpture piece created in Mexico, West Mexico, Nayarit, between 100 B.C. to A.D. 250; it was made of ceramic with traces of pigment. The person who molded it is unknown, but it shows his interest in leaving in this artwork all the importance that this sport had for his or her culture. Its size is 5 7/8 × 10 1/4 × 17 3/4 in.
The work represents a group of citizens watching a soccer game while sitting and hugging. All have a kind of hat on their heads, symbolizing their belonging to that tribe and serving as a badge; some have blankets, men wear loincloths and women skirts. You can see that in the center only men are playing, and as spectators, there are women and children, which means that the people who are watching must be their family and friends. The fact that there are only men playing, means that for them the player had to be prepared and have the necessary conditions to participate, as well as training because it was not just any game.
The first time I saw this work of art I was very impressed to realize that a culture so old and, nevertheless, so close, as is the Mesoamerican, could also generate art like the most advanced cultures in Europe. They had the tools and enough artistic abilities to be able to leave reflected something that is part of their culture and their lives in a work of sculpture. I was extremely impressed to see how this culture also left its legacies to us through its beliefs and traditions, especially through sport. Being there, in front of the clay players, I wondered why the ballgame was so important for this culture as to put so much effort into it, since the spectators, players, stairs, stands, clothes and even the fact that they were hugging each other, told me about the effort that the author put into those details.
I see that probably the answer is that this game, for them, meant much more than a simple sport and means of fun, for them it was a way to demonstrate their value and their honor, many times they used it as a religious act, because the ball, which was rubber, represented the sun, and that is why they could not let it fall. It also served as an act of war and justice when they struggled to acquire a position or a piece of land. It is noteworthy that, for the Mesoamerican culture, sport had much more impact than the one we put today, for them it was to put into play their own life, their own dignity, courage, and honor. According to the Popol Vuh, two brothers played the ballgame in the underworld competing against the gods, and after having won, they managed to rescue their father and be named demigods. Similarly, for people who played, it was possible to have the same fate.
Another thing that shocks me is that this work taught me that the Mesoamerican culture also bequeathed many things to the world, they also had many values and ideals that the following civilizations adopted, among them is the awareness they had of a life beyond this, because the game was also considered as a ritual in which the gods were establishing the different natural phenomena according to the results of the game. I see that through this work we can also evangelize because it is truly clear that even this culture that grew up far apart from the others shared with them the belief in the gods, a transcendental life, and the possibility of living there after death, is a sign that man has always known that religion is profoundly important.
Image links: Model of a Ballgame with Spectators and Terraces
