cuicatl (Mdz70r)

cuicatl (Mdz70r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This example of iconography from the Codex Mendoza is meant to show a singer (cuicani) in the act of singing a song (cuicatl). The man has short dark gray hair (probably meant to resemble black hair) and terracotta-colored skin. His head is in profile, facing to the viewer's right. Three turquoise-blue colored speech scrolls emerge from him, all with the curl facing downward.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
noun(s)
visual sound
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Gender (male)
Music, Song, Dance
Occupations
Colors: 
black
blue (turquoise)
gray
orange/terracotta
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing left
profile view
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
volute(s)
Keywords: 

musicians, singers, songs, drums, músicos, cantores, canciones, tambores

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

cuica(tl), song, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cuicatl
cuicani, singer, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cuicani
huehue(tl), upright drum, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/huehuetl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

la canción

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 70 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 150 of 188.

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)