huexolotl (FCbk9f27v)

huexolotl (FCbk9f27v)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This iconographic example, featuring a wild turkey (huexolotl) is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making potential comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the keywords chosen by the team behind the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss. This example shows a standing turkey in a ¾ view, facing right. Its feathers are painted purple with the exception of the feathers on the head, which are red and white. The beak and feet are a tan/yellow color. The eye is open, and the beak is closed. Above the beak is a white protuberance (a snood). Preparations for a banquet are the context for the bird in this scene.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

In this collection so far (August 2025), images of the full bird–which are showy–tend to have the label huexolotl (apparently referring to the tom turkeys). But when it is just the bird’s head, it is usually labeled a totolin (perhaps the less showy hens).

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:

Animals: Birds

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

3/4 view

facing right

Keywords:

totolin, totol, pavos, guajolotes, aves

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

huexolo(tl), the wild tom turkey, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/huexolotl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

el guajolote, el pavo silvestre

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 9: The Merchants", fol. 27v, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/9/folio/27v/images/0 Accessed 29 August 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: