tlacuiloloni (FCbk11f221v)

This iconographic example, featuring a substance used for painting and writing (tlacuiloloni), is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the text near the image in the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se. This example shows a (probably Nahua) man seated on a stool (probably wooden), holding a large white rectangle (paper or a canvas) with his left hand. Below him is a bowl that contains the painting medium described by the term tlacuiloloni. In the man’s right hand he holds what appears to be a paintbrush. The tip of the implement is attached to the handle, and it bends where it hits the paper, as though it has bristles. But, it is not quite like the one on folio 217 verso, which is more certainly a brush. Near the man’s right hand, most interestingly, is a compound hieroglyph with a flag (panitl), and the flag’s post is sitting in water (atl). Might this intend apantli (canal)? The man has a standard Nahua man’s haircut, but he wears a collared, cuffed, probably belted, tunic, which is a garment that shows European stylistic influences. His feet are bare, which ensures he is not interpreted to be a Spaniard, even as he sits in a building with a European column right next to him. The clothing and the architecture all have shading and three-dimensionality, also showing European artistic influence.