cihuapipiltin (TK210v)

This painted simplex Nahuatl hieroglyph represents two noble Nahua women (cihuapipiltin). There is no Nahuatl language gloss on this image, but there is a Spanish-language explanation of the painting made by a Nahua, and it refers to “indias principalas.” We are presuming the Nahua tlacuilo was therefore painting two that would have been called cihuapipiltin (plural of cihuapilli) in Nahuatl. They are dressed in fine handmade blouses (which they would call a huipilli, although the term is not mentioned here). Their hair is coiffed in the style (neaxtlahualli, but again not mentioned here) of the adult woman, with portions of hair tied and twisted up into points above their forehead. One has a blouse with black vertical stripes and a border along the bottom. Her long skirt is also white with a red border at the bottom. The woman on the right has a huipil with short horizontal markings all over it, plus a red border. Her long skirt also has a border design at the bottom. Both huipiles have the horizontal placard at the bottom of the V-neck, which was common in the sixteenth century. The fabric of their clothing has shaded folds that give it a three-dimensionality, something the tlacuilos learned from colonial instructors. The women are seated in a traditional posture, with their legs bent at the knee and tucked under their bodies. Their hands are down near their laps. In other circumstances, given their status, they might have been gesturing with their hands, such as pointing (what was called mapilhuia).