Copper mask, 'Warrior God in Battle'

A fan-like helmet used in battle rests powerfully atop this representation of Ai Apaec, a feline god of the ancient Moche culture. Ana Maria Enciso adapts the mask's style from the breastplates of high-ranking Inca royalty, who were often buried wearing pieces such as this one. Sheets of copper and bronze combine to evoke metallic energy, while the artisan employs techniques of galvanization to render mystical chemical tones. An elegant Peruvian accent for any home. At Huaca de la Luna, a ceremonial structure found on the western flanks of Cerro Blanco in Peru, archaeologists discovered a polychromatic relief panel depicting Ai Apaec, the supreme god of the ancient Moche culture. The image is characterized by his feline attributes, mythical mask, prominent eyebrows, agape mouth, and sharp, aggressive fangs. Black scrolls surround his face while a rhombus appears at the center, bordered in stylish bands representative of manta rays. Ai Apaec is identified with the ideologies inherited from the epic of the Chavin and complemented by other deities, such as the serpent, the condor, or the eagle, representative of Andean culture. It is suggested that his influence is primarily cosmic and that Ai Apaec was actually a constellation in the sky.