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Book/Printed Material Codex of Huamantla. Códice de Huamantla

About this Item

Title

  • Codex of Huamantla.

Other Title

  • Códice de Huamantla

Summary

  • The context in which this codex was created is unknown, but its purpose clearly is to tell the story of the Otomi people of Huamantla. The center of the painting depicts the migration of a group of Otomi from Chiapan, in the present-day state of Mexico, to Huamantla, which is located in present-day Tlaxcala state. The migration, which took place in the Post-Classical period, was undertaken under the protection of the goddess Xochiquétzal and of Otontecuhtli, lord of the Otomi and of fire. The glosses contain the names of the leaders who led the migration. In the depiction of Teotihuacan (location of the large pyramids of the Classical period), the pyramids are shown covered in vegetation, i.e., abandoned. In the 16th century, Otomi culture appears to have been permeated with Nahua material culture, language, and mythology; alongside the pyramids is a representation of the Nahua myth of the birth of the sun. The second pictographic group, added above the first by another artist, uses less space and a smaller scale to show the participation of the Otomi in the conquest of Mexico and the lives of the Otomi under Spanish domination.

Created / Published

  • [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 1592.

Headings

  • -  Mexico--Tlaxcala--Huamantla
  • -  1592
  • -  Codex
  • -  Indians of Mexico
  • -  Indigenous peoples
  • -  Memory of the World
  • -  Mesoamerica
  • -  Migration
  • -  Nahuatl language
  • -  Otomi Indians

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  "The codex first belonged to Mexican scientist Antonio de León y Gama (c.1735-1802), then it became part of Lorenzo Boturini's collection (Sondrio, Italy c.1702 to 1755), who identified many of the inscriptions. It is a document developed during the early colonial period containing pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican writing and pictographs. It contains glosses in Nahuatl written in the Latin alphabet, which were deciphered by the Mexican anthropologist Luis Reyes, and which are now mostly erased."--Note extracted from World Digital Library.
  • -  Original resource extent: Large format cartographic-historical codex, painted on thick pieces of amatl paper. When complete it measures approximately 8.50 X 1.90 meters.First fragment, 47 X 114 centimeters. Second fragment, 154 X 92 centimeters. Third fragment, 187 X 95 centimeters. Fourth fragment, 189 X 91 centimeters. Fifth fragment, 242 X 95 centimeters. Sixth fragment, 50 X 178 centimeters..
  • -  Original resource at: National Institute of Anthropology and History INAH.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021667607

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Codex of Huamantla. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, 1592] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667607/.

APA citation style:

(1592) Codex of Huamantla. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667607/.

MLA citation style:

Codex of Huamantla. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, 1592] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021667607/>.