cicitlallo (Mdz65r)

cicitlallo (Mdz65r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This example of iconography refers to a starry sky warrior suit. Aside from the loincloth, the entire suit is black with small white circles or dots, including the conical hat. The shield has a swirl of black with white dots, wrapping around a plain white swirl. Behind the shield is a macuahuitl (club) painted a light terracotta color (suggesting wood)with imbedded obsidian blades. The man is standing in a profile view, facing toward the viewer's right. His skin is a purplish dark gray. He wears white sandals with red (leather?) ties. He is taking a man captive, holding him by a thick lock of hair on the top of his head. The captive has a white loin cloth and a white shirt with a red collar.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

We include this example as support for our "star" interpretation in one of the citlalin glyphs (see below, right). As can also be seen in our attestations, some citlalin glyphs involve what appear to be eyes. The reduplication of the "ci-" syllable in cicitlalo may be captured visually in the swirling stars that go around and around on the shield.

Source Manuscript: 
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Keywords: 

rodelas, escudos, armas, stars, estrellas, cautivos, textiles

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

Original manuscript is held by the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1; used here with the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0)