Description
From the first millennium B.C. until the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century, artists from across the ancient Americas created small-scale architectural effigies to be placed in the tombs of important individuals. These works in stone, ceramic, wood, and metal range from highly abstracted, minimalist representations of temples and houses to elaborate complexes populated with figures, conveying a rich sense of ancient ritual and daily life. Although described as models, these effigies were created not so much as reflections or prototypes of existing structures, but rather as critical, conceptual components of funerary practice and beliefs about an afterlife.

![In the Courts of Religious Ladies: Art, Vision, and Pleasure in Italian Renaissance Convents [Hardcover] Periti, Giancarla](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/71cbGJd7edL._SY342_-1.jpg)
![The Jewelry and Metalwork of Marie Zimmermann [Hardcover] Deborah Dependahl Waters; Kimberley Ahara; Bruce Barnes and Joseph Cunningham](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/51-271x8apL._SY425_-1-300x425.jpg)



![Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes [Paperback] Ebbinghaus, Susanne; Anderson, Lisa; Bewer, Francesca G.; Bielfeldt, Ruth; Eremin, Katherine; Hemingway, Seán; Lie, Henry; Mattusch, Carol C.; Riederer, Josef and Staehli, Adrian](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/516k-q2VTKL._SY385_-1.jpg)
![A Divine Light : Northern Renaissance Paintings From the Bob Jones University Museum & Gallery [Paperback] Kennedy, Trinita & John Nolan](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/517Sf6pRpFL._SY342_-1.jpg)

![Roberto Capucci: Art into Fashion [Hardcover] Blum, Dilys E.](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/61poixzCplL._SY522_-1-300x450.jpg)
![Panaesthetics: On the Unity and Diversity of the Arts (The Anthony Hecht Lectures in the Humanities Series) [Hardcover] Albright, Daniel](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/71tyEo5BxYL._SY385_-1.jpg)

![Faces of America: Potraits of the Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, 1770-1940 [Paperback] Levy, Sophie and Elizabeth Kennedy](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/91-yhc65rL._SY342_-1.jpg)
![Julio González en la colección del IVAM [Hardcover] Valencia. Institut Valencia d'Art Modern. Essays by Ángel Kalenberg and Selma Holo](https://artwheelshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/51VdRNebrUL._SY466_-1-300x450.jpg)