petlazolcoatl (FCbk11f91v)

petlazolcoatl (FCbk11f91v)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This iconographic example, featuring three centipedes (petlazolcoatl), 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 the centipedes coming out of the ground. They are all striped and have many legs (not literally 100, as the European names imply). They have curving fangs. Here, their antennae are not visible. The landscape setting for these creatures shows European artistic influence. The prior page (f. 91r) has a painting of a single petlazolcoatl.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

This is the first centipede to enter this collection (as of November 2025). Common insects and bugs include ants, grasshoppers, flies, mosquitos, spiders, bees, and butterflies. The use of -coatl on the end of the name of the centipede suggests it was thought of as a type of serpent.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

petlaçolcooatl

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

petlazolcoatl

Gloss/Text 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: Insects & Bugs
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
brown
green (light)
tan
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
profile view
Other Cultural Influences: 
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

arthropods, serpiente, serpientes, snake, snakes

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

petlazolcoa(tl), centipede, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/petlazolcoatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el ciempiés

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 11: Earthly Things", fol. 91v, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/11/folio/91v/images/0 Accessed 16 October 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: