El Tigre del Baúl
El Tigre del Baúl is a monument of a giant-sized jaguar wearing a short cape, sitting on its haunches. What is wrong with this image? What is right about it?
El Tigre de Baúl is an interesting study in anomalies. According to the archeologists, the most prominent irregularities are the humanistic ears. It is also mentioned that there is a cape on its shoulders. El tigre is accepted as a Maya jaguar.
In two other art forms in these pages, there are two forms of a cape, both which are made of netting. One is an old volcano/man and the other a bird/bee man who flies in the skies. Even though the cape on the Tigre/man (here the image of man is implied by the human ears) is not made of netting, it is quite possible that all three images are of the same personage. Who is that person?
First, one must consider Maya myth. The Jaguar is thought to be the Sun of the Underworld. However, in Maya iconography, the Jaguar pelt of that of the night time skies filled with stars. In this respect, one can assume that El Tigre de Baúl is an underground god-form as bright as the sun that came from the heavens.
The genitalia of the statue is not considered important But in this instance it is the only clue available to the identification of the god/man who is thought to be a jaguar. The concept jaguar is acceptable in Maya because of both the myth and the iconography.
Generally, the upright phallus is never considered as incorrect feline physiology. There are no jaguars with its genitalia attached to its stomach. Dogs have such configurations, but cats, both large and small, are more discreet. Usually the genitalia of a cat is carried naturally behind the rear legs.
In Aztec land, there is a dog who bears the same mythic qualities that have been mentioned above. He is Xolotl, the twin of the sky god Quetzalcoatl. He sacrificed himself by entering the underworld, in order to save the sun (Quetzalcoatl). He became the sun of the underworld inside the volcanoes but he came from the heavens. It is a not-so-clear case of a religion from the Aztec lands entering not only the Maya domain, but also spreading northwards in ways that we do not yet understand.