tlalchihua (FCb4f72rk)

tlalchihua (FCb4f72rk)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This iconographic contribution from the Digital Florentine Codex shows a man in a ¾ view, facing left and kneeling (with the verb to kneel, motlancuaquetza, provided by the source). The tlacuilo employs shading for three-dimensionality, which shows European stylistic influence. He uses a digging stick (huictli) at the base of some maize plants (toctli or ohuatl), presumably to loosen the soil, to cultivate. The land being worked may be a tlalli or a milli, two of the most common terms among various possibilities. The cultivator wears a loincloth.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

No gloss or keyword points to this particular verb; it comes from our Online Nahuatl Dictionary, and it was chosen because it seems to describe what this scene illustrates. Maize cultivation is a theme that occurs in Nahuatl hieroglyphs, as can be seen below. The huictli, essential for the work of cultivation, also appears regularly.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)

Date of Manuscript:

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

verb

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Agriculture, Gardens, Stock Raising

Corn, Maize

Gender (male)

Plants, Flora

Technology (all types), plus Tools

Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

3/4 view

facing left

shading and parallel line hatching

three-dimensionality

Other Cultural Influences:

Spanish/European

Keywords:

milpa, milli, tierra, maíz, cultiva

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

tlalchihua, to cultivate the land, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlalchihua
tlal(li), earth, land, agricultural parce,. https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlalli
chihua, to make or do, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/chihua

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

cultivar

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Available at Digital Florentine Codex/Códice Florentino Digital, edited by Kim N. Richter and Alicia Maria Houtrouw, "Book 4: The Soothsayers", fol. 72r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/4/folio/72r/images/cb84bcf9-da... Accessed 29 June 2025.

Image Source, Rights:

Images of the digitized Florentine Codex are made available under the following Creative Commons license: CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International). For print-publication quality photos, please contact the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana ([email protected]). The Library of Congress has also published this manuscript, using the images of the World Digital Library copy. “The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse.”

Historical Contextualizing Image: