mictia (Osu12v)

mictia (Osu12v)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This painting from the Codex Osuna, folio 12 verso (or Image 27), shows two men in conflict. The man on the left is a Spanish colonial official, a magistrate (oidor), named Dr. Vasco de Puga. The oidor is grabbing the man on the right, who is a Nahua constable (topile) named Miguel Chichimecatl. The Nahuatl text uses the verb mictia to describe what Puga is doing to the topile. Judging from our Online Nahuatl Dictionary, this verb can mean to beat as well as to kill.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Conflict, crimes, and punishments are not common in the Nahuatl hieroglyphic repertoire, but they do appear in pictorial scenes such as this one. See a few examples below, both hieroglyphic and iconographic.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Source Manuscript: 
Osuna, Codex (Osu)
Date of Manuscript: 

1551–1565

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
verb
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Body postures
Crime, Punishment
Gender (male)
Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia
War or Conflict
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
gray
tan
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing left
facing right
facing upward
profile view
Other Cultural Influences: 
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

conflictos, crimen, mal trato, españoles, topiles, crimen, castigo

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

mictia, to kill or to beat someone, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mictia
topile, constable, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/topile

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

golpear o matar

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Library of Congress Online Catalog and the World Digital Library, Osuna Codex, or Painting of the Governor, Mayors, and Rulers of Mexico (Pintura del Gobernador, Alcaldes y Regidores de México), https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_07324/. The original is located in the Biblioteca Nacional de España.

Image Source, Rights: 

"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." But please cite the Biblioteca Nacional de España and this Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs if you use any of these images here or refer to the content on this page, providing the URL.

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Huatzal (MH518v)

mecatl (Mdz66r)

Mopipiloa (MH784v)

cihuatl (Mdz63r)