tezcatl (FCbk8f12v)

tezcatl (FCbk8f12v)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This iconographic example of a mirror (referred to as tezcatl) in the companion Nahuatl alphabetic text stands out as different from many mirror glyphs in its use of color, a yellow border and a turquoise blue center. But these colors do align with sky iconography, a yellow border and a turquoise blue canopy, at least as depicted in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis. The star in the middle of the mirror has European iconography.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The context illustrates more fully the story of the omen of the strange bird with a mirror on its head, something never before witnessed. At first the mirror reflected stars, and after that it showed strange men arriving on horseback, startling Motecuhzoma.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

tezcatl

Gloss Normalization:

tezcatl

Gloss 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:

Celestial Phenomena

Technology (all types), plus Tools

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black

blue (turquoise)

yellow or golden

Shapes and Perspectives:

circle(s) (small, often concentric)

circle, circular or rounded

frontal view

Other Cultural Influences:

Spanish/European

Keywords:

mirror, mirrors, espejo, espejos, estrella, estrellas, star, stars

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

tezca(tl), mirror, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tezcatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

el espejo

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 8: Kings and Lords", fol. 12v, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/8/folio/12v/images/0 Accessed 23 June 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: