ecailacatzcozcayo chimalli (FCbk3f10v)

ecailacatzcozcayo chimalli (FCbk3f10v)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

See the dictionary entry for definitions of the elements of this word (ecatl or ehecatl, ilacatztli, and cozcatl), two of which seem to coincide with the cross-section of a conch shell. But these were sometimes hung on necklaces, so cozcatl fits, too. This iconographic detail brings to the fore the war shield associated with the divine force, Quetzalcoatl (“Quetzal-feathered Serpent”). The shield is round with a white border and a red center. The design in the middle is a cross-section of a shell (a conch), showing the swirl that is revealed inside. This swirl also has associations with a whirlwind. The divine force of the wind was Ehecatl, often also spelled Ecatl, without the reduplication of the first syllable. Hanging down from the bottom of the shield is an orange and white fringe (perhaps feathers).

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

We do not have a gloss or even a text word, just the `keywording provided in the Digital Florentine Codex that points to ecailacatzcozcayo (or ehcailacatzcozcayoh, with the glottal stops). There is an Ecailacatz glyph in this collection (below), representing a personal name. That glyph shares the wind-spiral shell with this iconographic detail. The glyph for tecciztli (TK21r) shows how a shell like this could be a pendant.

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:

Feathers

Religion (Indigenous)

Shells

War or Conflict

Weapons, Shields, Armor

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

orange/terracotta

red

white/neutral

Shapes and Perspectives:

diagonal or angled

fringed

frontal view

Keywords:

caracol, caracoles, caracola, concha, colgante, viento, collar, collares

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

ecailacatzcozcayo, with the spiral pattern of the wind, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ecailacatzcozcayo
ilacatz(tli), spiral, conch, something rolled up, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ilacatztli
eca(tl), air, breath, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ecatl
eheca(tl), wind, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ehecatl
chimal(li), a war shield, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/chimalli
cozca(tl), a necklace, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cozcatl-0
-yotl, having the nature of, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/yotl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

a manera de un torbelino

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: