nacayotl (FCbk11f179v)

This iconographic example, featuring the butchered body (nacayotl) of a jaguar in a black-line drawing, is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the text near the image in the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se. This example shows a bird’s eye view of a jaguar (ocelotl) that has been beheaded, skinned, and cut open for the removal of its organs. The nearby text describes the medicinal uses for the flesh, skin, and even excrement of the animal. The contextualizing image shows the animal’s skin, with its spots, and some bones in a three-legged bowl (molcaxitl), and a basket with other body parts. A man also sits on a woven mat (petlatl) and a short woven seat (icpalli). He appears to be gnawing on a bone. Incidentally, he wears a Spanish-style long-sleeve shirt with a Nahua cape (tilmatli) over it. The fabric is shaded for three-dimensionality, a European artistic trait.