ONLINE PUBLICATIONS: MUSEUM REVIEWS AJA Issue 110.2 (April 2006) American Journal of Archaeology Online Museum Review Copyright © 2006 by the Archaeological Institute of America Seeing Power: Masterpieces of Early Classic Maya “High Culture” BY ROSEMARY A. JOYCE LORDS OF CREATION: THE ORIGINS OF SACRED MAYA KINGSHIP, LOS AN- GELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART, 10 SEPTEMBER 2005–2 JANUARY 2006, and other venues, organized by Virginia Fields and Dorie Reents-Budet. LORDS OF CREATION, edited by Virginia Fields and Dorie Reents-Budet. Scala Pub- lishers and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, London and Los Angeles 2005. Pp. 288, figs. 250 (many in color). $39.95 (paper); $60.00 (cloth); $65.00 (cloth, Spanish). ISBN 1–85759–405–3 (paper); 1–85759–386–3 (cloth). Anyone interested in the visual culture of prehispanic Central America who has the chance to view this exhibition should take the opportunity to do so. Those without such ac- cess will find the catalogue an extraordinary document of the objects included, enhanced by the addition of 14 interpretive essays by leading scholars from North America, Eu- rope, Mexico, and Central America. What distinguishes this exhibition most are the extraordinary objects included, many of them with excellent archaeological provenience. These objects are arranged to support an ex- ploration of the origins of “divine kingship,” a concept that has long been a staple of Maya studies. The emphasis on origins of kingship leads to a focus on the earliest periods of Maya society, differentiating this exhibition from others emphasizing Late Classic Maya art that have preceded and paved the way for it. The focus on earlier Classic and Late Preclassic Maya society would not have been possible without the extensive archaeological exploration of early sites undertaken in recent years. But ultimately this is an art exhibition, and the object selection and presentation are guided by aesthetic concerns. As a result, there is a tension in the show between objects with secure proveniences and those that, while spectacular, lack the certainty of knowledge that comes with controlled excavation. As installed in the original venue in Los Angeles, almost 150 objects were spread over a generous space that allowed visitors to browse without being crowded and gave the individual objects enough room to stand out visually. Carefully selected graphic images re- produced as large-scale wall panels, including some shots of sites and copies of rarely seen polychrome architectural murals, gave the exhibition additional aesthetic dimensions and allowed the curators to bring into the gallery a sense of architectural volume and spatial and environmental setting, lost when objects are abstracted from their “living” contexts. The texture and color of the material used for the main text panels subtly evoked the limestone that was one of the major materials used by the prehispanic Maya, being particularly remi- niscent of the limestone architectural panels at Palenque. One doorway between galleries mimicked a temple entrance from Calakmul, Mexico, one of the sites highlighted in the exhibition. A particularly laudable aspect of this show is that texts are bilingual, and a Spanish version of the accompanying catalogue was produced. At several points, additional text handouts were available to carry around the gallery, adding deeper explorations of selected issues, a nice compromise between the desire to keep text from overwhelming an installation and the fact that visitors without much background in Maya archaeology and art history are likely