National Museum of Mexican Art to return Mayan frieze to Mexico

Flashback: NMMA signed a memorandum of understanding with the Mexican government in February to return a limestone panel that dates back to between 500–900 C.E., considered the Classic Period of Mayan civilization in Mexico.

Zoom in: The work depicts a figure wearing an elaborate mask and headdress with hands extended as if speaking.

• There's a companion panel as part of the work that the museum said it is trying to locate.

Zoom out: The frieze was on display at the Brooklyn Museum and a museum in Indiana in the 1970s before being purchased by the Sullivan family.

• Members of the family contacted NMMA after their mother died to help the family return the work to Mexico.

Between the lines: The piece will be on display at NMMA for the next year before going back to Mexico City for restoration and exhibition there.

What they're saying: "It doesn't matter how this work, or any other work, went out of the country. It is not for commerce," National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) director general Diego Prieto said Friday through a translator.

• "It is not to be sold, and it's part of the Mexican patrimony that belongs to all Mexicans. We can share it. We can share it with the world."