COLLECTION NAME:
JCB Archive of Early American Images
Record
Accession number:
30289
Record number:
30289-91
JCB call number:
Codex Ind 2
Image title:
8a. Itzcoatl 4o Rey
Place image published:
[Mexico]
Image date:
[ca. 1585]
Image function:
plate; leaf 99
Technique:
painting
Image dimension height:
13.1 cm.
Image dimension width:
18.1 cm.
Page dimension height:
21 cm.
Page dimension width:
15.2 cm.
Materials medium:
watercolor
Materials support:
paper
Languages:
Spanish, Nahuatl
Description:
Itzcóatl, holding a spear or scepter, stands on a reed mat and next to a basket-work throne. He hides his left hand under his tilma or cloak. Above him is an obsidian serpent.
Source creator:
Tovar, Juan de, ca. 1546-ca. 1626
Source Title:
Historia de la benida de los yndios apoblar a Mexico de las partes remotas de Occidente los sucessos y perigrinaçiones del camino su gouierno, ydolos y templos dellos, ritos y cirimonias ... calandarios delos tiempos
Source place of publication:
Mexico
Source date:
ca. 1585
notes:
Itzcóatl (reigned 1427-1440), whose name means obsidian serpent, was the fourth emperor of the Aztecs. He is dressed in the clothes of the highest priests and is credited with destroying the old Nahuatl records, consolidating legal authority in a totalitarian leader, and with establishing the practice of "flowery wars" which were waged to attain human sacrifices. Image is placed horizontally on page. The Tovar manuscript is divided into three sections. This second section of the manuscript--an illustrated history of the Aztecs--is essentially the same as the Codex Ramírez and forms the main body of the manuscript.
Time Period:
1492-1600
References:
Lafaye, J. Manuscript Tovar, p. 240-241
Provenance/Donor:
Acquired from the collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps in 1946.
Owner and copyright:
©John Carter Brown Library, Box 1894, Brown University, Providence, R.I. 02912
geographic area:
Spanish America
Subject Area:
Artifacts, industry, and human activities
Subject Area:
Indigenous peoples
Subject headings:
Mexico--History--To 1519
Subject headings:
Indians of Mexico
Subject headings:
Aztecs--Kings and rulers--Mythology
8a. Itzcoatl 4o Rey
