Xipe Totec stone figure

Courtesy of the Werner-Forman Archive

Xipe Totec, the Flayed Lord, dressed in the skin of a sacrificial victim. During the agricultural festival of Tlacaxipeualiztli a sacrificial victim was skinned alive, and a warrior was dressed in the skin and performed a dance. The ceremony symbolised the bursting of the skin of the maize seed. Side view. Museum der Kulturen, Basel.