cicitlaltin (FCbk7f10r)

cicitlaltin (FCbk7f10r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This iconographic example, featuring stars (cicitlaltin, in the plural), is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making potential comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the companion text (which appears on f. 8 verso) in the Digital Florentine Codex. This example shows a rectangle bordered in white and filled with a turquoise blue sky. Eleven white stars (shaped like European stars with eight points each) appear on this sky. The text runs along for several pages speaking about different kinds of stars.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

In this collection, it seems some of the earliest stars appear as a small round white dot on a black or blue background, or they appear as round eyes with a red eyelid. Before long, however, European methods of drawing stars–with a number of points–were embraced by Nahua tlacuilos.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

cicitlaltin

Gloss Normalization:

cititlaltin

Gloss 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)

pluralization (textual)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Celestial Phenomena

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

blue (turquoise)

white/neutral

Shapes and Perspectives:

border (red, plain, or patterned)

Other Cultural Influences:

Spanish/European

Keywords:

estrella, cielo, azul, blanco, citlalin, citlallil

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

citlal(in), star, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/citlalin-2

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

las estrellas

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 7: The Sun, Moon and Stars", fol. 10r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/7/folio/10r/images/0 Accessed 14 July 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: