tlacuilo (MH894v)

tlacuilo (MH894v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the occupation of tlacuilo (“Writer” or “Painter”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows a writing or painting implement, at a slight angle, leaning to the left. It has a fine point and a wider piece that runs from about the middle of the implement down toward the extension with the point.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

This implement varies from some of the other hieroglyphs for tlacuilo (below).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

Juo q~uhtli tlacuillo

Gloss Normalization: 

Juan Cuauhtli, tlacuilo

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Gender (male)
Occupations
Technology (all types), plus Tools
Writing, Literacy
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Keywords: 

escribano, pintor, escribir, pintar, oficios

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

This is a detail of the acrylic painting on canvas created by José Chávez Morado in 1991–1992, “Fray Bernardino de Sahagún y su rescate de la historia de la cultura mexicana,” includes this scene of a tlacuilo painting a screenfold codex. It shows the enduring appreciation for ancestral Nahua painter-writers. On display in the Secretaría de Educación Pública, Mexico City. Photo by S. Wood, 7 May 2025.

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

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

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

escribano

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 894v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=861&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).

Orthography: 
"ll" for l
"q" for c
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

tlacuilo (MH504r)

tlacuilo (MH778v)

tlacuiloque (MH520r)

Tlacuilo (MH576v)

Tlacuilo (MH885v)

Tlacuilol (MH505r)