piciyetl (FCbk11f142r)

This iconographic example, featuring a tobacco plant (piciyetl), 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 thick-stemmed plant with four large green leaves. It also has two stalks with yellow and white flowers that look like tiny hands at the top, along with small leaves on these stems. The contextualizing image shows a Nahua man in profile, facing left, pounding some tobacco leaves that have been harvested. The text explains that these pounded leaves would be mixed with lime in preparation for chewing (or, tucking inside the lips). The worker is wearing a white cotton long-sleeved tunic over long pants. The clothing and the fact that it is shaded, showing three-dimensionality, reveal European cultural and artistic influences.