xochitl (Mdz42r)

xochitl (Mdz42r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for flower (xochitl) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Cuauhquecholan Macuilxochitepec.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

This sign is especially detailed and colorful when compared to a great many xochitl glyphs. The attention to detail and color attest to the high value placed on flowers. The two small circles at the top of this flower, the leaves, and the roots are all hallmarks that will recur with some frequency, but, naturally, this element can also be abbreviated in some compound glyphs (e.g. the example, below, from 23 recto), and it will absorb European depictions of flowers (emphasizing stem, leaves, and largely round flowers) over time. Prior to contact, flowers appeared on temples and palaces, they were cultivated in gardens (showing horticultural expertise), they were associated with a ritualized warfare, worn as necklaces and garlands, and, for these reasons and more, they were the subject of poetry. Mexicolore has a short article about the Nahuas' fondness for flowers.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Shapes and Perspectives: 
Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 
Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

flower

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 42 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 94 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).