casco (FCbk12fiv)

casco (FCbk12fiv)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This iconographic example, featuring a black and white sketch of Spaniard wearing an armored helmet (casco), is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making comparisons with related hieroglyphs. There is no gloss, per se, and not mention of the term in the nearby text of the Florentine Codex. This example shows a ¾ view of the Spaniard’s head. He looks toward the viewer, but he is on a horse moving toward the viewer’s right. The helmet is metal. The facemask is lifted. Three large, fluffy, curling plumes come out of the top of the helmet.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Feathers such as these must have resonated with Nahuas, whose divine forces were often plumed, as were their warrior regalia.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Date of Manuscript: 

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Other Cultural Influences: 
Keywords: 

cascos, plumas, metales, caballo, caballos, armadura

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

casco, helmet, a loanword from Spanish, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/casco

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el casco

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 12: Conquest of Mexico", fol. iv, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/12/folio/iv/images/0 Accessed 7 February 2026.

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: