Preview
Description
The early 17th century Codex Ixtilxochitl was written in Spanish and illustrated by an artist or artists familiar with European as well as indigenous painting traditions. It is named for Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl, a member of the ruling family of Texcoco, one of the three allied governing towns of the Aztec Empire, who was born between 1568 and 1578 and died about 1650. This page shows Ixtilxochitl’s ancestor and king of Texcoco, Netzahualcoyotl (1402-1472), in warrior costume. One of the great figures of Mexican “prehistory,” Nezahualcoyotl was known as a wise ruler, architect, scientist, and poet, in contrast to this bellicose portrayal. Among his most beautiful poems is “Not forever on Earth.”
Is it true that on earth one lives?
Not forever on earth, only a little while.
Though jade it may be, it breaks;
Though gold it may be, it is crushed;
Though it be quetzal plumes, it shall not last.
Not forever on earth, only a little while.
(translated by Miguel León Portilla [1963]:72)
References:
Cantares Mexicanos (1985) Cantares Mexicanos: Songos fo the Aztecs. Translated by John Bierhorst. Stanford University Press, Stanford.
León Portilla, Miguel (1963) Aztec Thought and Culture:A Study of the Ancient Nahuatl Mind. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
Curation Date
9-2013
Photo Source
Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
