Cleveland Museum of Art · 500–1000
Painted Drum
In the 1600s, music was so important to Indigenous Andean ceremonial life that Spaniards destroyed thousands of musical instruments to hasten Natives’ conversion to Christianity. The number of surviving, older instruments suggests that music had similar import in earlier periods. This rare example is painted with a figure wearing a crescent headdress, an emblem of status; it may have been played by a woman.
This painted drum may have been played by a woman in antiquity.
| Date | 500–1000 |
|---|---|
| Culture / origin | Central Andes, Middle Horizon, North Coast? |
| Materials | Animal hide, gesso, wooden slats, pigment |
| Dimensions | Overall: 27 x 28 x 12 cm (10 5/8 x 11 x 4 3/4 in.) |
| Credit | Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund |
