matlalin (MH518v)

matlalin (MH518v)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This painting of the flower called matlalin has been carved from the compound glyph of the personal name Matlalihuitl. The flower has four petals painted a turquoise blue, a white center, and some dark pink coloring around that small central circle. The tip of a leaf appears between each of the four petals.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The matlalin often has only three petals; just occasionally does it have four, as shown here. But the flatness of the flower and the points between the petals are general features. This one is exceptional for being painted. The Matrícula de Huexotzinco is far more likely to have glyphs that are not colored.

An article, "Colorantes Naturales," in México Desconocido, states that the color texotli was made from mixing clay with the the intense turquoise blue that comes from a flower called Matlalxochitl.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Color names
Flowers
Plants, Flora
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Shapes and Perspectives: 
quincunx or quatrefoil
Keywords: 

flowers, flores

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

matlal(in), a blue-green color, a flower of this color, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/matlalin-0

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

un tipo de flor y el color azul-verde

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 518v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=116&st=image

Image Source, Rights: 

This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).

See Also: 

matlalin (MH486r)

matlalin (MH605r)

Matlal (MH608r)

Matlal (MH681r)