copilli (FCbk3f10v)

copilli (FCbk3f10v)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This pointed cap is especially associated with the divine force of Quetzalcoatl. The contextualizing image shows him as a man, bathing at night. The iconographic signs associated with him surround him in the air. The cap is red with an undulating white border along the bottom, where it would encircle the face. On top of the cap is a small, round, white ball, possibly made of down feathers. Coming out of the top of this ball are four short yellow objects, and from there arise five undulating quetzal feathers.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

There is no gloss for this iconographic example, just the keywording of the team behind the Digital Florentine Codex, which we trust. See another depiction of Quetzalcoatl, below. He is wearing this same red conical cap.

Added 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: 
Jewelry, Crowns, or other Adornment
Religion (Indigenous)
Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
green (light)
red
white/neutral
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
frontal view
pointed (see also spiky)
triangular
Keywords: 

sombrero, gorra, sombreros, gorras, religion/Indígena

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

copil(li), head piece, conical cap, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/copilli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

un sombrero cónico

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 3: The Origin of the Gods", fol. 10v, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/3/folio/10v/images/c88dc29b-23... Accessed 23 June 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: 
See Also: 

Quetzalcoatl (FCbk1fxivv)