Aztec Tezcatlipoca Jaguar Signed Ceramic Sculpture, "Tezcatlipoca as a Jaguar"

The most important deity in the Aztec pantheon, Tezcatlipoca, or "Smoking Mirror," is also one of the oldest, first appearing during the pre-Mexica Teotihuacan era. He is the god of fertility, of the wind, of life, of maize and of agriculture, and is said to have taught humans how to measure time and create the calendar. He is considered the antagonist of Quetzalcoatl, yet in later accounts, Quetzalcoatl is described as the black Tezcatlipoca.

Working in polychrome ceramic, Angel Cerón depicts Tezcatlipoca as his nahual, or animal counterpart — a jaguar named Tepeyollotli.