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Conquest of Mexico
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| 38. | Huitzilopochtli. Codex Borgia, p. 50. Notice the humming-birds, the huilzitzilin on his massive necklace. |
| 39. | Quetzalcoatl. Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, p. 30. The rare quetzal (Pharomacrus mocinno) is of a shimmering green that changes to blue or purple or gold. See pp. 100, 183, 363, and note to p. 326. |
| 41. | The temple of Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc in Tenochtitlan. Codex Vaticanus A, p.118 (Kingsborough). |
| 44. | Temples. Codices Bologna, p. 11 (Kingsborough); Vaticanus B, p. 16; Vaticanus A, p. 118. In their drawings of temples, the Mexican artists very greatly minimised the substructure, the terraces and the great stone stairways leading up to the top platform at the east end of which stood the shrine of the god, because to their minds, so dominated by the idea of a mysterious and supernatural presence within the sanctuary, it was instinctively obvious that the sanctuary should be made to dominate the drawing. See note to p. 46. |
| 45. | Maize plants (Zea mays). Codices Bodley, p. 37 (Kingsborough); and Vaticanus A,p.62. |
| 46. | Tezcatlipoca. Codex Borgia, p. 21. Eyes, noses and usually also teeth were to Mexican artists the beautiful, the essential features. From the chin downwards everything, with the exception of the hands, should be reduced in scale they considered, in order to give extra prominence to the more important parts. Prominence had to be given, too, to the insignia of gods and of illustrious persons, for (without the niceties of portraiture) it was mainly by their insignia that individual could be recognised. |
| 47. | Flowering sprays, probably of one of the mimosea. Lienzo di Tlaxcala, p. 67. |
| 47. | A human sacrifice. Codex Borgia, p. 73. |
| 48. | Tlaloc. Codex Borgia, p. 11. See also note to p. 213. |
| 57. | Woodpeckers. Codex Zouche, pp. 14, 33. The charm of such little drawings as these and of ancient Mexican Art in general is more commonly appreciated now, though less than a century ago even Prescott was but lukewarm. Earlier still, fifty years or so after the Conquest, Acosta (translated by Purchas: Hakluyt series, p. 312) dismissed all Mexican artists' work as "foul and deformed," while Diaz denounced Huitzilopochtli's statue in its shrine on the great teocalli as merely "monstrous" (see Maudslay's fine translation, also in the Hakluyt series. Vol. II. p. 76). |
| 60. | Aloe. Codex Laud, p. 9 (Kingsborough). |
| 61. | A rattlesnake and aXiuhcoatl, a mythical beast typifying fire and lightning. Codex Zouche, p. 79. |
| 61. | Flowering plants. Codices Vaticanus A,p.29 (Kingsborough); and Zouche, p.20. |
| 66. | The Mexican Tonalamatl or calendar. Codex Telleriano-Remensis. |
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