Codex Ríos
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| Codex Ríos | |
|---|---|
| Vatican Library | |
.jpg?lang=en) Folio 20r. from Codex Ríos, depicting the deity Tláloc (central left) surrounded by a series of calendrical symbols associated with the tōnalpōhualli | |
| Also known as | |
| Date | c. late 16th century |
| Place of origin | Rome |
| Language(s) | Italian |
| Material | European paper |
| Format | Folio[1]: 108 |
| Contents |
|
Codex Ríos, originally titled Indorum cultus, idolatria, et mores in Latin[a] and also known as Codex Vaticanus A, is an Italian-language translation and elaboration of either the 16th-century manuscript Codex Telleriano-Remensis or the lost Codex Huitzilopochtli. The textual authorship of Codex Ríos is attributed to Pedro de los Ríos, a Dominican friar active in the regions of Oaxaca and Puebla between 1547 and 1562. Although based on earlier material compiled in New Spain, the manuscript was likely written and illustrated in Rome after 1566. It is housed at the Vatican Library.
Contents
[edit]The manuscript is focused on the Tolteca-Chichimeca culture in the Tehuacan Valley in modern-day Puebla and Oaxaca. It can be divided into seven sections:[3]
- Cosmological and mythological traditions with emphasis on the four epochs.
- An almanac, or tonalamatl, for the 260-day divinatory year common in Mesoamerica.
- Calendar tables for the years 1558 through 1619, without drawings.
- An 18-month festival calendar, with drawings of the gods of each period.
- Ritual customs, with portraits of Indians.
- Pictorial chronicles for the years 1195-1549 beginning with the migration from Chicomoztoc and covering later events in the Valley of Mexico.
- Glyphs for the years 1556 through 1562, without drawings or text.
Source and authorship
[edit]Produced in Rome by a presumably Italian artist, Codex Ríos was based on an Aztec source text. One hypothesis suggests that Codex Telleriano-Remensis served as its basis; however, the pages concerning the early years of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire are missing from Codex Telleriano-Remensis, whilst Codex Ríos preserves material depicting that period.[4]: 69–70 [b] A view common in the 19th century held that Codex Ríos had been copied from Codex Telleriano-Remensis before those pages were lost. The opposite scenario—that Codex Telleriano-Remensis was copied from Codex Ríos—is implausible, as the former is clearly the work of multiple Indigenous artists, whereas the latter displays the uniform style of its copyist.[5]: 136 An alternative hypothesis proposes that both manuscripts derived from Codex Huitzilopochtli, a now-lost text.[5]: 137 [2]: 272 Codex Ríos may have been used by Dominican friars to defend Indigenous cultures and to critique the violence of the conquest.[4]: 70
Facsimile
[edit]Codex Vaticanus A (3738), Rome, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, around 1580; Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA) Graz 1979. Colour reproduction for studies of the manuscript in possession of the Bibliotèca Apostolica Vaticana, reduced to 7/10 of the original size, i.e. to 340 x 260 mm. Miniature paintings with Italian notes. Half leather binding. Introduction: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt. 14 pp. and 192 plates. CODICES SELECTI, Vol. LXV
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Díaz, Ana (2020). "Dissecting the Sky: Discursive Translations in Mexican Colonial Cosmographies". In Díaz, Ana (ed.). Reshaping the World: Debates on Mesoamerican Cosmologies. University Press of Colorado. ISBN 9781607329534 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c d Aguilar-Moreno, Manuel (2007). "Nahuatl Literature". Handbook to Life in the Aztec World. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195330830 – via Google Books.
- ^ "FAMSI - Akademische Druck - u. Verlagsanstalt - Graz - Codex Vaticanus 3738". Akademische Druck - u. Verlagsanstalt - Graz CODICES. FAMSI. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
- ^ a b c Rabasa, José (2008). "Thinking Europe in Indian Categories, or, "Tell Me the Story of How I Conquered You"". In Moraña, Mabel; Dussel, Enrique D.; Jáuregui, Carlos A. (eds.). Coloniality at Large: Latin America and the Postcolonial Debate. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822341697 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b Glass, John B.; Robertson, Donald (2015). "A Census of Native Middle American Pictorial Manuscripts". In Wauchope, Robert; Gibson, Charles; Nicholson, H. B.; Cline, Howard F. (eds.). Handbook of Middle American Indians, Volumes 14 and 15: Guide to Ethnohistorical Sources, Parts Three and Four. University of Texas Press. ISBN 9781477306888 – via Google Books.
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