Tezcatonatiuh (MH674v)

Note how the shimmer of this sun consists of many short lines, whereas what may be shimmer on the mirrors in the Codex Mendoza (f. 29 recto and f. 42 recto) consists of four small circles evenly placed around the perimeter of the mirror’s border. The relationship between the light reflected from the mirror and the sun rays is worth probing further. One can imagine this as a tool for starting a fire. A mirror could be an adornment on clothing. It could be a practical or a spiritual way of looking at one's face. In this collection, one will notice that profile views are much favored over frontal views of faces. Perhaps frontal views were perceived to be too direct or too powerful for normal purposes. Looking at rulers, such as Motecuhzoma, in the face was something controlled, too, possibly because of his perceived divinity. Frontal views of faces are often found on glyphs such as teotl (divinity), tonatiuh (sun), tonalli (sun/day), deity sculptures (e.g., nenetl), skulls, and an occasional animal (e.g., especially the tecolotl, or owl, which may have been perceived to have special powers, given that the tlacatecolotl was a supernatural being). Specifically "face" (xayacatl) glyphs are sometimes given in a frontal view, too.