pilli (Osu7v)

pilli (Osu7v)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This painting of two small sons (referred to in the Nahuatl text as ipilhuantzitzin, in the possessive plural form of pilli, child) is included here as an iconographic example meant to provide for comparisons with glyphs relating to children. It comes from the Codex Osuna, folio 7 verso (or Image 17). This detail shows two small boys in profile, facing toward the viewer’s right. They are both sitting with their knees drawn up under their capes, which is a posture that men might also take. Their capes are white with a red border, and the capes are tied at the shoulder. Wearing capes suggests some degree of social status.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1551–1565

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Body postures
Children, Childhood, Adolescence
Family, Kinship, even Friendship
Gender (male)
Social Hierarchy, Commoners, Elites
Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
red
tan
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
tied, bound, or bundled
profile view
facing right
Keywords: 

pilli, niños, hijos, bebés, criaturas, familia, descendencia

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

pil(li), a child or a noble, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/pilli
cone(tl), child, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/conetl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

niño

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: 

pipiltotontin (MH485r)

Yaopilli (MH647v)

pilli (CST33)

pilli (CST34)

pipiltin (CST38)