The Codex Telleriano-Remensis, produced in sixteenth century
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
on European paper, is one of the finest surviving examples of
Aztec
The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...
manuscript painting. Its
Latinized name comes from
Charles-Maurice Le ''Tellier'',
archbishop of ''Reims'', who had possession of the manuscript in the late 17th century.
The Codex is held at the
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
.
Contents
The Codex Telleriano-Remensis is divided into three sections. The first section, spanning the first seven pages, describes the 365-day solar calendar, called the ''
xiuhpohualli''. The second section, spanning pages 8 to 24, is a ''
tonalamatl
The ''tonalamatl'' is a divinatory almanac used in central Mexico in the decades, and perhaps centuries, leading up to the Spanish conquest. The word itself is Nahuatl in origin, meaning "pages of days".
The ''tonalamatl'' was structured arou ...
'', describing the 260-day ''
tonalpohualli'' calendar. The third section is a history, itself divided into two sections which differ stylistically. Pages 25 to 28 are an account of
migrations during the 12th and 13th centuries, while the remaining pages of the codex record historical events, such as the ascensions and deaths of rulers, battles,
earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
s, and
eclipse
An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...
s, from the 14th century to the 16th century, including events of early
Colonial Mexico
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
.
Reproductions
In 1995, a reproduction of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis made from films was published by the
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
, with commentary by
Eloise Quiñones Keber
Eloise Quiñones Keber is Professor Emeritus of Art History at Baruch College and The Graduate Center, CUNY, where she specializes in Pre-Columbian and early colonial Latin American art. She earned her Ph.D from Columbia University in 1984.
Writi ...
. During the process of photographing and re-binding the manuscript for this publication, two pages were accidentally swapped, and appear as such in the facsimile: page 13, with
Tecziztecatl on the recto and
Nahui Ehecatl Nahui may refer to:
Geography
* Nāhui, Peru, region of Cusco in Peru
* Nahui, Hainan ( zh, 那会), village in Tianya District, Sanya, Hainan
* Nahui, Guangxi ( zh, 那会), village in Lingyun County, Baise, Guangxi
Other
* Nahui, is a spec ...
on the verso; and page 19, with
Tamoanchan
Tamoanchan is a mythical location of origin known to the Mesoamerican cultures of the central Mexican region in the Late Postclassic period. In the mythological traditions and creation accounts of Late Postclassic peoples such as the Aztec, Ta ...
on the recto and
Xolotl
In Aztec mythology, Xolotl () was a god of fire and lightning. He was commonly depicted as a dog-headed man and was a soul-guide for the dead. He was also god of twins, monsters, misfortune, sickness, and deformities. Xolotl is the canine brothe ...
on the verso.
[Evans (1997): p. 420.]
Notes
References
*
*
*
External links
Bibliothèque nationale de France link.Loubat edition commentary.
{{in lang, fr
Telleriano-Remensis
Bibliothèque nationale de France collections