Moctezuma's headdress is a

featherwork Featherwork is the working of feathers into a work of art or cultural artifact. This was especially elaborate among the peoples of Oceania and the Americas, such as the Incas and Aztecs. Feathered cloaks and headdresses include the '' ʻahuʻula' ...

headdress or military device ( nah, quetzalāpanecayōtl ) which tradition holds belonged to

Moctezuma II Moctezuma Xocoyotzin ( – 29 June 1520; oteːkˈsoːmaḁ ʃoːkoˈjoːt͡sĩn̥), nci-IPA, Motēuczōmah Xōcoyōtzin, moteːkʷˈsoːma ʃoːkoˈjoːtsin variant spellings include Motewksomah, Motecuhzomatzin, Montezuma, Moteuczoma, Motecu ...

, the Aztec

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

at the time of the

Spanish conquest The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predece ...

. However, its provenance is uncertain,González de Alba, Luis. "El penacho de un pobre diablo", en el periódico La Jornada
versión electrónica.
/ref> and even its identity as a headdress has been questioned.Rodríguez, Ana Mónica. "El penacho de Moctezuma es una capa de sacerdote, afirma un investigador", La Jornada
versión electrónica
It is made of

quetzal Quetzals () are strikingly colored birds in the trogon family. They are found in forests, especially in humid highlands, with the five species from the genus ''Pharomachrus'' being exclusively Neotropical, while a single species, the eared quet ...

and other feathers with sewn-on gold detailing. It is now in the Weltmuseum Wien, and is a source of dispute between Austria and Mexico, as no similar pieces remain in Mexico.

Description

The feathers of the piece have deteriorated over the centuries. It is high and across and has the form of concentric layers of different colored feathers arranged in a semicircle. The smallest is made from blue feathers of the '' Cotinga amabilis (xiuhtōtōtl)'' with small plates of gold in the shapes of half moons. Behind this is a layer of

Roseate spoonbill The roseate spoonbill (''Platalea ajaja'') is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is a resident breeder in both South and North America. Taxonomy The roseate spoonbill is sometimes placed in its own ...

''(tlāuhquechōlli)'' feathers, then small quetzal feathers, then a layer of white-tipped red-brown feathers of the

squirrel cuckoo The squirrel cuckoo (''Piaya cayana'') is a large and active species of cuckoo found in wooded habitats from northwestern Mexico to northern Argentina and Uruguay, and on Trinidad. Some authorities have split off the western Mexican form as the M ...

, ''Piaya cayana,'' with three bands of small gold plates, and finally two of 400 closely spaced quetzal tail feathers, some long. The quetzal feathers in the center of the headdress are raised relative to the sides. Leather straps attach the crown to the head of the wearer. Though it likely served as a headdress, it has also been identified in other ways. As a headdress, its appearance matches that which is seen in contemporary

Aztec codices Aztec codices ( nah, Mēxihcatl āmoxtli , sing. ''codex'') are Mesoamerican manuscripts made by the pre-Columbian Aztec, and their Nahuatl-speaking descendants during the colonial period in Mexico. History Before the start of the Sp ...

being worn by priests during the festival of Xocotlhuetzi. However, its appearance also matches that of other kinds of objects also seen in contemporary depictions. In

Codex Cozcatzin Aztec codices ( nah, Mēxihcatl āmoxtli , sing. ''codex'') are Mesoamerican manuscripts made by the pre-Columbian Aztec, and their Nahuatl-speaking descendants during the colonial period in Mexico. History Before the start of the ...

, emperor

Axayácatl Axayacatl (; nci, āxāyacatl ; es, Axayácatl ; meaning "face of water"; –1481) was the sixth of the of Tenochtitlan and Emperor of the Aztec Triple Alliance. Biography Early life and background Axayacatl was a son of the princess Atot ...

is depicted during the

Battle of Tlatelolco A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

wearing a quetzal-feathered battle standard and some sort of large device in the back, both of which have a similar appearance. In all situations, it appears that the object is associated with the deity

Quetzalcoatl Quetzalcoatl (, ; Spanish: ''Quetzalcóatl'' ; nci-IPA, Quetzalcōātl, ket͡saɬˈkoːaːt͡ɬ (Modern Nahuatl pronunciation), in honorific form: ''Quetzalcōātzin'') is a deity in Aztec culture and literature whose name comes from the Nahu ...

. Regardless, there is no direct edivence which suggests that it actually belonged to Moctezuma.

History

Although attributed to Moctezuma and the Spanish conquest, the provenance of the piece is unattested, and it does not match Aztec illustrations of the headdress of their nobility. It became an object of interest to European researchers such as

Ferdinand von Hochstetter Christian Gottlieb Ferdinand Ritter von Hochstetter (30 April 1829 – 18 July 1884) was a German-Austrian geologist. Career Having received his early education at the evangelical seminary at Maulbronn, Ferdinand proceeded to the University of ...

and

Eduard Seler Eduard Georg Seler (December 5, 1849 – November 23, 1922) was a prominent German anthropologist, ethnohistorian, linguist, epigrapher, academic and Americanist scholar, who made extensive contributions in these fields towards the study of p ...

at the end of the 19th century, and its identification as a ''quetzalapanecayotl'' is attributed to American anthropologist

Zelia Nuttall Zelia Maria Magdalena Nuttall (6 September 1857 – 12 April 1933) was an American archaeologist and anthropologist specialised in pre-Aztec Mexican cultures and pre-Columbian manuscripts. She discovered two forgotten manuscripts of this type in ...

. It was restored in 1878, while still thought to be a mantle rather than a headdress. It is attested since 1575 in the collections of Archduke Ferdinand in Ambras near

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

, Austria. At the beginning of the 19th century it was deposited in the Museum of Ethnology (inventory number 10402''VO'') in Vienna along with other liturgical artifacts of

and

Ehecatl Ehecatl ( nci-IPA, Ehēcatl, eʔˈeːkatɬ, ) is a pre-Columbian deity associated with the wind, who features in Aztec mythology and the mythologies of other cultures from the central Mexico region of Mesoamerica. He is most usually interpreted as ...

. Although artifact exchanges and

restitution The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery, in which a court orders the defendant to ''give up'' their gains to the claimant. It should be contrasted with the law of compensation, the law of loss-based recovery, in which a court o ...

of the headdress were negotiated with the Mexican government, a bilateral expert commission deemed the artifact too fragile for transport and thus recommended its remaining in Vienna.

References

{{reflist

External links

Propuesta de trueque histórico por el Penacho

"El penacho de Moctezuma es un atavío para la cabeza"
nota de prensa emitida por el

Conaculta The Secretariat of Culture ( es, Secretaría de Cultura), formerly known as the National Council for Culture and Arts ( es, Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes or CONACULTA), is a Mexican government agency in charge of the nation's museums ...

"El penacho de Moctezuma es una capa de sacerdote, afirma un investigador", a letter in the journal ''La Jornada''

"Discutirá el Parlamento de Austria si devuelve el penacho de Moctezuma", in the journal ''La Jornada''

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110120174631/http://swadesh.unam.mx/actualidades/Actualidades/12/texto12/penacho.html "¿De quien es el penacho de Moctezuma?", by Carmen Cook de Leonard* http://www.yankuikanahuak.o-f.com/Xoko.htm * http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/16445 Mexican art History of Mexico Featherwork Individual crowns Aztec artifacts Aztec clothing

Description

History

See also

References

External links