regidor (Osu7v)

regidor (Osu7v)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This detail from the Codex Osuna (folio 7 verso, image 17) is included here as an iconographic example of a town council officer called a regidor, which is a term that was taken into Nahuatl as a loan word. It could refer to a person on a Spanish town council or an Indigenous town council. Here, it refers to a Spaniard. He is shown in profile, facing toward the viewer’s left. His left arm is raised, and he is pointing with his index finger. A red and white speech scroll appears as though it came from his mouth. He wears a sword, a hat, and sports a beard.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The group of Spaniards visible in the contextualizing image is referred to in the Nahuatl text as “yn castilteca” (Castillians, reflecting another term taking into Nahuatl from Spanish). There were never huge numbers of Spaniards inside Indigenous communities in the Spanish colonial period. They would make visits in the sixteenth century with the purpose of introducing changes to landholding, local governance, and tribute (tax) collection, for example. But they preferred to live in Mexico City or in their own provincial towns.

Added Analysis, 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
Gender (male)
Gestures with hands
Occupations
Politics, Power, Governance
Race, Ethnicity, Identity
Scrolls (Speech, Song, etc.)
Social Hierarchy, Commoners, Elites
Speech, Speaking, Oral Tradition
Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia
Weapons, Shields, Armor
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
brown
pink
tan
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing left
profile view
volute(s)
Other Cultural Influences: 
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

regidores, cabildos, oficios, oficiales coloniales, hombres, españoles

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

regidor, a town council member, ranking third in status, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/regidor
caxtilteca, Spaniards or Castilians, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/caxtilteca

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el regidor

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: