Tlehuexoloteuctli (LTlaxUT1b)

This iconographic example is included here for possible comparisons with Nahuatl hieroglyphs. It is a portrait remembering the presence of Tlehuexoloteuctli (“Fire-Turkey Lord”), a noble of Tepeticpac of Tlaxcala, at the meeting with Hernando Cortés and his expedition party as they were marching toward Tenochtitlan in 1519. This man is standing and gesturing with both index fingers, pointing toward the left, in which direction he also seems to be walking. He wears an elaborately decorated and multicolored loincloth, sandals, and a cape with red quincunx designs involving X-shapes and little arrows pointing toward the center of the X. The cape is tied at about his collarbone. His hair is long and tied at the nape of his neck. He has short bangs, mostly in the middle of his forehead. Behind his head and slightly higher is his name glyph, which is the head of a male turkey in profile, facing left, and with a red throat. The Tle- start to the glyph, which is from fire (tletl), could be referenced by this red color.