tocamaxacualli (FCbk11f93v)

tocamaxacualli (FCbk11f93v)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This iconographic example, features what is supposed to be a tarantula (tocamaxacualli). It 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 supposed tarantula, which is supposed to be a large hairy spider, has 17 legs and a five-part body. The body is painted gray with reddish brown shading, giving it a three-dimensional look (which suggests European artistic influence). At least the legs are hairy. The landscape setting visible in the contextualizing image shows European artistic influences, too. Another nearby image on this same side of the folio shows a different version of the tocamaxacualli, a small bug with short legs and a body with red and white stripes.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

This spider-like tocamaxacualli that is the focus of this record is the first of its kind to enter this digital collection. But the collection does contain a number of other spiders.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image:

Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription:

Tocamaxaqualli

Gloss/Text Normalization:

tocamaxacualli

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)

Date of Manuscript:

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Animals: Insects & Bugs

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

bird's eye view

facing right

three-dimensionality

Keywords:

arañas, tarántulas

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

tocamaxacual(li), tarantula, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tocamaxacualli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

la tarántula, o un tipo de araña

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 11: Earthly Things", fol. 93v, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/11/folio/93v/images/0 Accessed 16 October 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.”

Historical Contextualizing Image: