colotl (FCbk11f92r)

This iconographic example, supposedly featuring a scorpion (colotl), 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 on the page previous to the image (f. 92r) in the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se. Scorpions usually have a tail curving at the back with a stinger on the end. Scorpions also have two claw-like pincers at the front. Perhaps the artist was not really familiar with scorpions. This creature looks more like those called petlazolcoatl (centipedes) on the previous page. The contextualizing image shows two men wearing three-dimensional cloaks and loincloths. One is holding the leg of the other, who has been stung by a scorpion. The incident is set in a landscape, another indication of European artistic influence, and yet there is a peak in the distance, something that would have captured the Nahua artist’s attention.