17) Perspective

In this digital collection of Aztec hieroglyphs we are tracking the use of varying perspectives. One can ask to see some of these in the Advanced Search dropdown list for shapes (for want of a better category), which is where we are currently tucking perspectives.

Very common are profile views, particularly when showing people and often with animals. Sometimes a human body will be facing the viewer, but the head or even just the face will be in profile. When human body parts are shown, such as the legs or arms, they also tend to be in profile. Noses [yaca(tl)] are usually in profile. One will find a jaw bone in profile and skulls in profile, too. Teeth [tlan(tli)] are most often in frontal view, but when presented with both upper and lower sets, they tend to be in profile.

Faces deserve careful study. They are most often shown in profile. It is a rare face in a frontal view. Perhaps looking directly into someone's face was considered rude. The xayacatl (face) from folio 13 verso of the Codex Mendoza might be a mask, which is why it looks straight at the viewer. But another mask (Xayaco Mdz46r), which has a hole for an eye, is in profile. The ixtli (eyes or face) on the Mendoza's folio 21v, would be a frontal view if not for the covering (a quemitl). Perhaps because the face is covered it is okay to have it at that angle. Faces looking straight at us are also found on the European-influenced depictions of the sun that has a face surrounded by emanating rays. Many examples of this type of tonalli are found on a document from the Ramo de Tierras (1871:1) in the Archivo General de la Nación. This is true of several examples of tonalli and tonatiuh in the Matrícula de Huexotzinco, too. The Tonatiuh name glyph that appears in the Telleriano-Remensis has a specific portrait in the middle, that of Pedro de Alvarado, with sun rays encircling his frontally presented face.

Deity images (see, for example, glyphs containing nenetl or the ne or nen syllables) regularly defy the profile preference. See for example, Necihuatl (MH524v), Zaocnen (MH501r), or many others. Renditions of teotl (divinity) can also have simplified anthropomorphic faces in a frontal view (although some are still in profile, such as Teotl (MH575v and MH576r). Teoxoch (MH524v and MH741v)), Xochiteotl (MH500r), and Achiteotl (MH507r) are good examples of teotl with the frontal face. This represents a change from the half-sun of teotl in the Codex Mendoza. But the sun stone of pre-contact times does have a face on it. One example of cipactli has a frontal view of an anthropomorphic face, and this might be owing to the fact that the crocodile was a double for the divine force or deity, Tonacatecuhtli, creator of the universe and the human race, according to Anastasia Kalyuta, publishing in Mexicolore.

The cave [ozto(tl)], which appears in the Codex Mendoza as the open-mouthed head of an earth monster, a divinity, can be found in profile or with a frontal perspective.

Buildings and houses [cal(li), and other terms] are also being tracked when shown in a profile versus a frontal view. The side view is most common, but when a building has a specific function, the building will often face the viewer, and the artist has added details that clarify that function. Examples include the building with many wooden beams [huapal(li)] in the glyph for Huapalcalco and the building where salt was being made, in the glyph for Iztacalco.

Bird's eye views are also found to some extent, especially with land and things on the ground. Types of agricultural parcels, such as tlalli, milli, and chinamitl have this bird's eye view, as do types of land, such as ixtlahuatl. These pieces of land are typically long strips, sometimes segmented, and typically textured (as though seeded?). One will also find a bird's eye view of a an earthen mound (tlalehualli) and a body of water (e.g. the amanalli), Other views of demarcated spaces on the earth include market places [tianquiz(tli)] and ball courts [tlach(tli)]

Very rare, apparently, is the perspective that has the viewer looking at the underside of something. We have one example identified so far. This is the turtle [ayo(tl)]. Yet, even though the underside of the body is shown facing the viewer, the head is in profile, facing to the viewer's right.

A cross-section, combined with an elevation is often found in the representation of a canal or waterway [apan(tli)]. Some apantli are difficult to distinguish from a simple water [a(tl)] glyph. But many show a trapezoidal shape with a framework on the bottom and sides, typically colored red and yellow or just one of these colors.

What is the point of tracing these perspectives? The hope is that art historians will be able to identify and track pre-contact perspectives for a deeper understanding, for instance, about how the human gaze interacted with divinities as compared to other people. What was respectful or disrespectful? Also interesting is how such glyphs evolved over time with the influence of European perspectives and, in the case of the sun (tonalli, tonatiuh) or divinities (teotl), the impact of Christianity.

Patterns with regard to perspectives could also help identify newly identified glyphs whose reading is unclear. The clarification of such patterns could also aid in the dating of glyphs and the manuscripts in which they appear.