provisor (Osu8v)

This iconographic example of the church official called a provisor (a judge-like figure in the church and nominated by a bishop) comes from the Codex Osuna, folio 8 verso (or Image 19). It is included here for the purpose of providing a comparison for hieroglyphic materials in this collection. It shows a man dressed in a hat and brown robes much like a friar might wear, and he sits in the throne-like (probably wooden) curule chair. He is shown in profile, facing toward the viewer’s left. He is gesturing by pointing the index fingers on both hands. His right arm is raised somewhat. A speech scroll appears before his face, suggesting that he is speaking. This volute is red nearest to the man’s mouth and turquoise blue on the part curling up and under. The gloss identifies this man as the “probisor bachiler murenu,” and the orthography is a give-away that the author of the gloss was a Nahua. A Spanish-language text elsewhere on this folio refers to “bachiller moreno provisor.”