tecpancalli (Osu38r)

This painted scene from the Osuna Codex is intended here to provide examples of iconography in representations of Nahua government at the tecpancalli (or site of gobernación, a term that appears in the nearby text) in the sixteenth century. It shows the governing palace in Mexico Tenochtitlan (tecpancalli Mexico) with the horizontal row of circles (perhaps chalchihuitl, precious green stone beads?) just under the roof. A large staircase leads up to the palace, and buildings surround it. There is a large walled courtyard where outdoor activities could take place. The front wall is also covered with the circles that may be beads. In front of the entrance to that courtyard or patio (which is a European arch) appear two authority figures, a Nahua on the left and a Spanish official on the right. They are both seated in their respective chairs (what would be called an icpalli and a curule chair). The Nahua is named don Esteban de Guzmán, carrying the honorific title introduced by colonization and a Spanish name that would have been given upon baptism. He carries a long staff of office and wears refined white cotton clothing with red trim. A speech scroll emerges from his mouth, an indication that he had a voice of authority. He was a tlatoani (or tlahtoani with the glottal stop added). The Spaniard is the viceroy don Luis de Velasco. He also has a voice of authority, as exhibited by the speech scroll coming from his mouth along with the pointing he is doing with his right index finger (an action Nahuas called malpihuia). These men are involved in a legal dispute. It is important to remember that Nahuas continued to have access to the legal system for the redress of their grievances, not that the result always went their way.