cihuapilli (Azca30)

This painting is an unglossed iconographic example of a Nahua noblewoman (what we are labeling a cihuapilli). She is standing with a group of other noblewomen, and therefore her huipilli (blouse) is obscured somewhat, but one can see a quincunx on the placard or patch of fabric that appears just below the V-neck. The shape is reminiscent of a pre-contact carved stone with calendrical references that seems to refer to ilhuitl (day) and tonalli (sun). This garment is red, black, and white. She also has red ties in her hair, which she wears in the neaxtlahualli style, with two protrusions above her forehead. There is a term for a red hair tie (tochacatl) that comes up in the Digital Florentine Codex, Book 8, f. 33v., sometimes translated as a cord or something like a candle wick. (See the Gran Diccionario Náhuatl.)