metztli (FCbk7f2r)

metztli (FCbk7f2r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This iconographic example, featuring a moon (metztli) 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 companion text in the Digital Florentine Codex. This example shows a white crescent moon inside a circular space, and this circle is on a turquoise blue background inside a square with a white border. Peeking out from behind the crescent, and within the circle, is an anthropomorphic face, in profile, looking toward the viewer’s right. The face has some red accents, and some shading gives it a three-dimensionality. A pink glow emanates from the face.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Other examples of moons in this digital collection (as of July 2025) either show simple crescents (from Tierras in 1558) or a moon with a human-like face, such as this one. The next folio of the Florentine Codex (after this one with the anthropomorphic faced moon) shows a rabbit in the moon. See Ian Mursell’s short piece, “A Rabbit in the Moon,” along with his loger essay < href=”https://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/stories/creation-of-the-moon”>“Creation of the Moon” story.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

metztli

Gloss Normalization:

metztli

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)

Date of Manuscript:

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Semantic Categories:

calendrics

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Anatomy, human body parts

Celestial Phenomena

Time, Calendar, Frequency

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

border (red, plain, or patterned)

circle, circular or rounded

facing right

profile view

Other Cultural Influences:

Spanish/European

Keywords:

lunas, meses, caras

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

metz(tli), a moon, a month, a crescent, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/metztli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

la luna, o el mes

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 7: The Sun, Moon and Stars", fol. 2r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/7/folio/2r/images/0 Accessed 13 July 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: