Mictlantecuhtli

Jerry Vigile is known as Colorado's "Dean of the Dead".  His love and work of El dia de los Muertos themed sculptures reflects his appreciation for the Chicano community and their reverance for the deceased.  Jerry is considered an expert on the history and cultural significance of El dia de los Muertos.  I'll leave you with the best description of this piece from the best source possible.  Thanks, Jerry!

"Mictlantecuhtli (Nahuatl meaning "Lord of Mictlan"), in Aztec mythology, is Lord of the dead and the Ruler of Mictlan, the lowest of nine levels of the underworld. He is one of the principal gods of the Aztec pantheon.

Mictlantecuhtli is sometimes depicted as a blood-spattered skeleton. Although his head is typically a skull, his eye sockets do contain eyeballs. Although not used in this sculpture, his headdress is usually shown decorated with owl feathers and paper banners, and he wears a necklace of human eyeballs. Shown in the sculpture are his earspools which are made from human hand bones.

Mictlantecuhtli is not the only Aztec deity to be depicted by having a skulls for a head or else wear clothing or decorations that incorporate bones and skulls. In the Aztec universe, skeletal imagery is a symbol of fertility, health and abundance, alluding to the close symbolic interplay between life and death."