Zumarraga (TR47r)

Zumarraga (TR47r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This example of iconography from the Codex Telleriano-Remensis shows the first bishop of Mexico, Fray Juan de Zumárraga, lying horizontally. The gloss indicates that he is deceased. Accordingly, his eyes are closed. He also has a slight growth of beard (dots on his chin). His feet are bare, but he is dressed in his predominantly white religious regalia, with a tie at the waist, two hanging strips of cloth with crosses (+) at the ends, and he wears a miter. His skin tone is shown as pink.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

We are providing a link in the dictionary field to the term obispo, which entered Nahuatl as a loanword. But the gloss here was written by a native speaker of Spanish.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

añodecinco casas y de
1549 murio primero bis
po demexico fray juo de
çumarraga

Gloss Normalization: 

año de cinco casas y de 1549, murió [el] primer obispo de México, fray Juan de Zumárraga

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Telleriano-Remensis, Codex (TR)
Date of Manuscript: 

ca. 1550–1563

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Death, decay, decomposition
Gender (male)
Jewelry, Crowns, or other Adornment
Religion (Christian)
Religion (Indigenous Christianity)
Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
gray
pink
red
white/neutral
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
facing upward
horizontal
rectangular
Other Cultural Influences: 
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

obispos, bishops, deaths, muertes, muertos, religión cristiana

Museum & Rare Book Comparisons: 
Museum/Rare Book Notes: 

The miter presented here is found in the Museo Jtatik Samuel in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas. It is made from the handwoven fabric of a local Maya community in the twentieth century. It diverges considerably from the one worn by Zumárraga (above), but it offers an Indigenous perspective on the iconic garment of Bishop Samuel Ruiz García, who became known internationally for helping mediate peace during the late twentieth-century Zapatista struggle. Photo by S. Wood, 26 April 2025.

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

obispo, bishop, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/obispo

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

[Fray Juan de] Zumárraga

Image Source: 

Telleriano-Remensis Codex, folio 47 recto, MS Mexicain 385, Gallica digital collection, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8458267s/f119.item.zoom

Image Source, Rights: 

The non-commercial reuse of images from the Bibliothèque nationale de France is free as long as the user is in compliance with the legislation in force and provides the citation: “Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France” or “Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.”

Historical Contextualizing Image: