tlatla (FCbk12f19v-20r)

tlatla (FCbk12f19v-20r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This is an iconographic example of a burning temple: ye tlatla in ixquich teocalli, “all the temples are already burning.” The text goes on to mention calpulli houses and the schools (calmecatl), too, as being on fire. The flames are all found at the tops of the buildings, perhaps because some roofs were thatched, whereas the foundations and steps leading up to the tops of the temples were stone. In many glyphs of buildings, the entrances are shown to have large wooden frameworks around the building entrances, and those could burn, too.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

This same image could double as a representation of a teocalli, a temple or devotional building, as mentioned in the companion text. Note how it compares to glyphs of teocalli below. The changing widths as the steps rise, and the presence of a building at the top, seem to be diagnostics for the teocalli, but further research is warranted.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

ie tlatla in ixquich teucalli

Gloss Normalization:

ye tlatla in ixquich teocalli

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)

Date of Manuscript:

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

verb

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Architecture, Construction, Buildings

Fire, Tobacco, Incense, Smoke

Religion (Indigenous)

War or Conflict

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

frontal view

Keywords:

quemar, fuego, flama, edificios, templos, escuela, escuelas, casas

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

tlatla, to burn, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlatla
teocal(li), a temple, devotional building, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/teocalli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

abrasarse o quemarse

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Available at Digital Florentine Codex/Códice Florentino Digital, edited by Kim N. Richter and Alicia Maria Houtrouw, "Book 12: The Conquest of Mexico", fol. 20r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/12/folio/20r?spTexts=&nhTexts= Accessed 23 June 2025.

Image Source, Rights:

Images of the digitized Florentine Codex are made available under the following Creative Commons license: CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International). For print-publication quality photos, please contact the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana ([email protected]). The Library of Congress has also published this manuscript, using the images of the World Digital Library copy. “The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse.”

Orthography:

"u" for o

Historical Contextualizing Image: