Yale University art professor Mary Miller treated NIU students and staff to a presentation on the “Maya Body” Wednesday night at the Jack Arends Visual Arts Building. The presentation covered Mayan cultural standards of beauty and depictions of captives, royalty and deities.

The Mayans, who did not possess luxuries such as the wheel and metal tools, went on to create some of the most complex stone sculptures of the eighth century.

Miller said she enjoyed presenting for NIU students and staff and believed this art puts things into perspective.

“When you look at a standard of beauty like the Mayans’, it shows you that these standards are culturally created rather than any form of truth,” Miller said.

Many audience members appreciated the historical significance of ancient Mayan artwork. Some of the art even depicted ancient Mayan humor.

Junior history major Steven Caban enjoyed the historical aspect of the presentation.

“It’s important for people to understand that there was civilization before Jamestown and Santo Domingo,” Caban said. “It is important for people to develop an appreciation of art and culture in any form.”

Miller also revealed the maize god was at the center of all Mayan belief and was the standard of beauty in ancient Maya. She also addressed the power art can have on someone.

“Great art can make you hear, smell, laugh, imagine and even convey a passage of time,” Miller said.

Many students and staff enjoyed the presentation.

“It turned out to be very informative,” said sophomore biochemistry major Jose Carrasco. “She brought life into the art for me. I don’t quite look at it the same way that I used to after this presentation.”

After the presentation, a reception was held in the Jack Olson Gallery.

Miller is the Vincent J. Scully Professor of the History of Art at Yale. She has written and co-written many books, including “The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art,” which she co-wrote with Linda Schele, and “The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: A Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion,” which she co-wrote with Karl Taube.

Miller also was the guest curator of “The Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya,” an exhibit that was held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in 2004.