Princeton Maya Vase with God L

Originally serving as a drinking vessel for chocolate, it depicts a throne room occupied by an aged deity, wearing an owl headdress, and by five young women surrounding him.

Subtle visual devices, including one woman tapping the foot of another while her face points to the left, direct the viewer to turn the drinking vessel, allowing for a temporal unfolding as part of the viewing experience.

Five elegant female figures, perhaps concubines, and reminiscent of the goddess I from the Dresden Codex, surround the old god, who delicately ties a bracelet on one of them.

The women wear loose, flowing sarongs, or tight-fitting wrap-around cloths, decorated with batik-like dyed patterns rendered in a soft brown wash. Each has jewelry at the neck, ears, and wrists.

Below and sitting next to the throne, a rabbit (an animal more often associated with God L) is writing in a book with jaguar-pelt covers, perhaps to record the scene in front of the throne: Two men wearing elaborate masks and wielding axes decapitate a bound, stripped figure whose winding serpent attribute, beset with death-eyes, is typical of writers, or in any case, of functionaries for whom the art of writing was essential.

Viewed within this framework, the scene has been said to show the ritual execution of Vucub-Hunahpu, uncle to the Hero Twins, by order of god L, taken as the lord of the underworld (Xibalba).