corte (Osu6r)

This drawing of the jail of the colonial court (corte, taken into Nahuatl from Spanish) is provided here as an iconographic example, even while the subject is glyph-like. It comes from the Codex Osuna, folio 6 recto (or image 14) It shows a Spanish authority sitting inside a building (a typical calli-type building) in profile, facing toward the viewer’s right. The building is white with a brown T-shaped entrance. The person inside the jail has a full set of dark brown clothing, a hat, a beard, and he gestures with both index fingers. Unlike many similar figures, this man does not have a speech scroll emanating from his mouth; presumably, being imprisoned has meant the loss of his voice and therefore some of his authority. A turquoise-blue chain of six or seven links partly around his ankles presumably limit his mobility, and he is not sitting on the throne-like curule chair that others enjoy.