Popocatepetl (FCbk12f18r)

Popocatepetl (FCbk12f18r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This iconographic example features a black and white sketch of the famous volcano, Popocatepetl. It 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 on the page that precedes the image in the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se. This example shows a mountain peak very much in the shape of earlier hieroglyphs of mountains (tepetl), Smoke curls (using the verb, popoca, “it smokes”) out from the top of this mountain. The mountain also has dots all over it, and it is shaded on the right side. The landscape in the contextualizing image includes some rare colorants, such as blue and green, when most of these sketches are black and white. The setting also has a group of armored Spaniards, some on horseback, all carrying lances. Three Nahua men also appear, all wearing cloaks and loincloths.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

This mountain was a landmark on the journey from the gulf to the valley of Mexico. The route crossed between the two volcanoes that are known today as Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. This latter one is called Iztactepetl in the Nahuatl text that is near this imagery in the manuscript.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

popoctepetl

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

Popocatepetl

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)
Date of Manuscript: 

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
place name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals: Birds
Celestial Phenomena
Fire, Tobacco, Incense, Smoke
Gender (male)
Landscape Features
Names (places)
Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia
Weapons, Shields, Armor
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
dotted, granular, textured
shading and parallel line hatching
three-dimensionality
Other Cultural Influences: 
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

volcán, volcanes, emitir humo, humear, punteado, sky band, banda del cielo

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

Popocatepetl, a famous volcano, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/popocatepetl
popoca, to emit smoke, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/popoca
tepe(tl), a mountain, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tepetl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Popocatepetl, el volcán

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 12: Conquest of Mexico", fol. 18r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/12/folio/18r/images/0 Accessed 7 February 2026.

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: 
See Also: 

Popocatepetl (FCbk11f232v)