atzcalli (FCbk11f212r)

This iconographic example, featuring three clams or clam shells (atzcalli), is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the text near the image in the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se. This example shows black-line drawings of three variations on the clam (quetzalatzcalli, chalchiuhatzcalli, and huitzitzilatzcalli). These shells are drawn like hieroglyphs. For instance the quetzalatzcalli shows a horizontal quetzal feather over a clam shell. The chalchiuhatzcalli has a chalchihuitl (precious greenstone) on a string sitting inside a clam shell. And the huitzitzilatzcalli has a hummingbird (huitzitzilin), in profile, facing right, partly inside an almost closed clam shell. The shells have some shading, which shows European artistic influences. The text describing the shells speaks with awe about the colors on the insides of the shells, which seems to be the characteristic of greatest interest and the distinguishing feature between the three variations on the clam featured here. There is one stone or another type of shell in this image of the three types of clamshells. Perhaps it is meant to represent the ayopalli, which is mentioned briefly in the text as a squash-blossom color that turns brown.