cacalotl (FCbk11f46v)

cacalotl (FCbk11f46v)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This iconographic example, featuring a raven (cacalotl), 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. The preference for the translation of raven over crow comes from the ornithologist Eugene S. Hunn. This example shows a raven in profile, facing the viewer’s right. All its feathers are black. It has what appears to be a seed pod, partially unhusked, in its beak. This resembles a corn cob, but if that is indeed what it is, it is a small one, given its proportional size. The raven stands on some ground with a slight rise to it. This grounding shows European artistic influence.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The cacalotl appears in a place name in the Codex Mendoza and in personal names from the Matrícula de Huexotzinco. It can appear as a whole bird or just a head.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image:

Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription:

Cacalotl

Gloss/Text Normalization:

cacalotl

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)

Date of Manuscript:

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Animals: Birds

Corn, Maize

Feathers

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black

white/neutral

yellow or golden

Shapes and Perspectives:

facing right

profile view

Other Cultural Influences:

Spanish/European

Keywords:

cuervos, pájaro, pájaros, ave, aves, negro, grajo, grajos

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Available at Digital Florentine Codex/Códice Florentino Digital, edited by Kim N. Richter and Alicia Maria Houtrouw, "Book 11: Earthly Things", fol. 46v, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/11/folio/46v/images/0 Accessed 18 October 2025.

Image Source, Rights:

Images of the digitized Florentine Codex are made available under the following Creative Commons license: CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International). For print-publication quality photos, please contact the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana ([email protected]). The Library of Congress has also published this manuscript, using the images of the World Digital Library copy. “The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse.”

Historical Contextualizing Image: