tlacuilo (MH504r)

tlacuilo (MH504r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the occupation of tlacuilo ("Writer/Painter," here attested as the job of a man) shows a (left) hand holding a quill or stylus in its fist. The implement is vertical, and the point is down.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

This particular occupation is not glossed, but we know from other pages where glosses do appear that this glyph represents the occupation of tlacuilo. Please see also various glyphs for tlacuilolli and cuilol. In many glyphs relating to writing or painting, the implement is a diagnostic.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Syntax: 
cuil (tracking)
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Art, Design, Crafts, etc.
Occupations
Writing, Literacy
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
frontal view
pointed (see also spiky)
vertical, upright
Keywords: 

writer, escribano, notario, painter, pintor

Museum & Rare Book Comparisons: 
Museum/Rare Book Notes: 

Detail of a noble holding a painting that would have been made by a tlacuilo. This detail comes from a painting by María Izquierdo (1945) in the Museo de Arte Moderno, Chapultepec Park, Mexico City. Photo by S. Wood, 7 May 2025.

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

tlacuilo, writer, painter, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlacuilo

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 504r, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=87&st=image

Image Source, Rights: 

This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

tlacuilo (Mdz70r)

tlacuilo (MH894v)

tlacuilo (MH778v)

tlacuiloque (MH520r)

Tlacuilo (MH576v)

Tlacuilo (MH885v)

Tlacuilol (MH505r)