Aztec art is not, in fact, ancient.
And they are magnetic in the peculiar way that makes Aztec art such a complicated experience.
Throughout, there are vivid Mexican tiles, Aztec art and eye-catching pictures of colorfully clad people.
Aztec art is on view at the Royal Museum in Brussels to April 17.
When a big survey of Aztec art opened in London in 2002, everybody flipped out.
A parallel example is provided by obsidian mirrors, ritual objects widely depicted in Aztec art.
Perhaps the most well-known work of Aztec art is the calendar stone, which has become a national symbol of the state of Mexico.
Ms. Pasztory is a Mesoamerican specialist who has written, among other things, a fine book on Aztec art.
The conviction here is characteristic of Olmec, Aztec and Maya art.
Aztec art was cited as inspiring her use of orange in early lines.