Frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza
Viceroyalty of New Spain. c. 1541-1542 C.E. Ink and color on paper
Viceroyalty of New Spain. c. 1541-1542 C.E. Ink and color on paper
The artist emphasizes the military power of the Aztecs by showing two soldiers in hierarchic scale: they physically tower over the two men they defeat. The Codex contains a wealth of information about the Aztecs and their empire
Detail with year 2-Reed glyph (lower right), Frontispiece, Codex Mendoza, Viceroyalty, New Spain, c. 1541–1542, pigment on paper
Content:
The Codex: great amount of information about the Aztec empire
Frontispiece:
Information about the organization, foundation, origins of the (Tenochtitlan) Aztec capital “place of the prickly pear cactus”
schematic diagram of Tenochtitlan
-city divided into four parts by intersecting blue/green smooth diagonals
-represent: city divided into four quarters= mirror the organization of the universe, believed to be four parts aligned with the four cardinal directions (north, east, south, west).
-city made of canals: depicts quadripartite division of the city and the canals running through it
Aztec myth: Huitzilopochtli (Hummingbird Left) =patron deity told the Aztecs’ ancestors to leave Aztlan (ancestral home) and find a place with “an eagle atop a cactus growing from a rock” → when they see this they should settle and build city there: saw this sign middle of Lake Texcoco therefore capital was on an island in the lake
Center:
an eagle on a cactus growing from the midst of a lake
The eagle and the cactus symbolize the city founding + values
Catus:
The cactus (eagle sits on) symbolizes place name of Tenochtitlan
is a nopal (prickly pear cactus)
grows from a (tetl) stone
Paired together: form te-noch → Tenochtitlan (place of the prickly pear cactus)
Other figures:
below the cactus + stone: is a war shield= symbolizes Mexica did not settle peacefully in the Valley of Mexico
above the eagle: symbolizes a temple= maybe symbolizes Templo Mayor or the Aztec’s main temple
To the right of the eagle: skull rack (tzompantli)= structure found near the Templo Mayor
Different types of plants: including maize (corn) huge food source → dot the city’s four quadrants= agricultural fertility in the city
Tenoch:
Ten men depicted in four quadrants → wearing white garments + top knots in their hair
men who led the Aztecs to this island location
name glyphs attached to them pre-Conquest manuscripts manner= a thin black line connects to a symbol that indicates their name
Priest:
amongst the men
distinct and differs: seated to the left of the eagle (closest to it), has gray skin, different hairstyle, red mark around his ear= identify him as a priest because he let blood from his ear as offerings to deities + ash covers his skin.
His name glyph identities his as "Tenoch"
speech scroll coming from his mouth (listen to his words of wisdom/god) + woven mat upon where he sit= convey his high status
Surrounding the entire page:
year glyphs
total of fifty-one year glyphs
One year is marked= the year 2-Reed → twenty-six years after Tenochtitlan’s establishment
this reed has a cord wound around it + fire drill appears above it
symbolize year 2-Reed= first year of a new 52-year cycle → new fire was drilled to begin the new cycle and signal the completion of the previous 52-year cycle
What is the New Fire Ceremony?: occurred every 52 years (a complete cycle of the solar calendar) and it assured that the sun would rise again. Just prior to the beginning of a new cycle → new fire was drilled in the body of a sacrificial victim and the fire was distributed to people to light their homes
Below diagram city:
2 two scenes of military conquest
emphasis of military power of Aztecs= shows two soldiers physically tower over the two men they defeat: a hierarchical scale that they are superior
shield: identify them as Aztec warriors (identical to the one above that is associated with Tenochtitlan)
obsidian-bladed weapons (called macana)
What up with the war scene?: The defeated men (place glyphs as Colhuacan and Tenayuca) from different locations around Lake Texcoco → burning temples with hills: Colhuacan and Tenayuca were defeated
Context:
Codex (Codex Mendoza)= information about the lords of Tenochtitlan, the tribute paid to the Aztecs, daily life year to year, inner working of the empire
1541: Antonio de Mendoza (the first viceroy of New Spain) commissioned a codex= to record information about the Aztec empire
artist(s) were indigenous: images annotated by Spanish priest that could speak Nahuatl (language of the Aztecs)→ sense of the control the story?
Tenochtitlan ( former Aztec capital): established in the middle of Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico (1325)
Tenoch (ruler of the Mexicas during the fourteenth century) died in 1363,
first Aztec tlatoani (speaker/the ruler) was elected in 1375 by a council of elders
This scene of conquest: early Aztec military victories, which aided them in building their power even prior to their first official tlatoani came to power.
Function:
Show power/ greatness of their empire, to record history, worship and respect the Gods, and important stories of the founding of city
1541: Antonio de Mendoza (the first viceroy of New Spain) commissioned a codex= to record information about the Aztec empire for him to know
artist(s) were indigenous: images annotated by Spanish priest that could speak Nahuatl (language of the Aztecs)→ sense of the control the story?
