Quetzalcoatl (TR8v)
This example of the iconography of the anthropomorphized patron deity of a trecena (13-day divinatory cycle) as presented in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis features Quetzalcoatl. The figure is shown in profile, facing toward the viewer's right. His legs are positioned as to suggest he is moving, possibly dancing. On his back is a package much like that carried by Nahui Ehecatl. This Quetzalcoatl also carries accoutrements in his hands, and his regalia is laden with diagnostic symbolism of many colors and various media, including feathers, paper, shells, gems, and more. Note the facial mask in the style of Ehecatl, and the sectioned ilacatztli shell, the xihuitl glyph on top of the white heron feathers on the headdress, the dotted conical hat, the earring with the hooked shell, and so much more.
Stephanie Wood
If the spelling of the deity name is really Quetzalcohuatl, then the serpent is a phonetic indicator, and it has no real place in the translation. In this example, a feathered serpent is not obvious, even as quetzal feathers do apper. Associations with Ehecatl (deity of the wind) are more obvious in this case.
For another representation of this deity, see Marc Thouvenot's vignette from the Códice Matritense del Palacio Real, https://vignettes.sup-infor.com/imagen/4-PR_01_261v_a.
Stephanie Wood
ca. 1550–1563
Jeff Haskett-Wood
Quetzalcohuatl, deities, deidades, divinities, divinidades, divine forces, fuerzas divinas, plumas, feathers, shells, conchas, caracoles, serpiente emplumada
Quetzalcoa(tl), a deity, "Quetzal Feather Serpent", https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/quetzalcoatl
Quetzal, a person's name, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/quetzal
coatl, snake, serpent, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coatl
Telleriano-Remensis Codex, folio 8 recto, MS Mexicain 385, Gallica digital collection, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8458267s/f42.item.zoom
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