tlaquetzqui (FCbk10f26r)

This iconographic example, featuring a storyteller (tlaquetzqui), 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 fully clothed man seated on a low woven seat (icpalli). He wears a large cloak (tilmatli), probably over a Spanish-style shirt and trousers, but the latter are not visible.The cloak is tied in front over his chest. His clothing is shaded in places to give it a three-dimensionality, evidence of European artistic influences. Three volutes or speech scrolls emerge from his mouth in the direction of the two women who are listening. They are dressed traditionally with huipiles and nahuas (also three-dimensional), and their hairstyle is the neaxtlahualli or axtlacuilli, the traditional way for adult women to wear their hair, with two points above the forehead. One of the women seems especially engaged with the story. The text describes the storyteller with great praise, as though this practice was highly revered.