Male Narrator: This may be the most exquisite tax document you’ve ever seen. About twenty years after the Spaniards conquered the Aztec Empire, the first viceroy to New Spain commissioned this brilliantly illustrated manuscript. It records the founding of the capital, Tenochtitlan, as well as the customs of the Mexica people one of the Aztec Empire’s ruling ethnic groups. [rhythmic drums and rattles evoking period and mood] This page comes from the second section, which documents the tribute, or taxes, that every province in the Empire paid to the capital.
Each pictorial symbol is translated to Spanish. Look at the top left corner: the symbol identifies the province, and those underneath it, along the inner edge, list the towns in that province. The remainder of the page illustrates all the goods this province paid in tribute. Kim Richter:
[music shifts to ambient music with native flute evoking period and mood]
Kim Richter: We see a costume made of feathers, with a large bird on top. This is a quetzal bird, one of the most valued birds because they had these long tail covert feathers, these beautiful iridescent green plumes. They’ve painstakingly applied layers of green color to show the changing nature of the color of these feathers.
Male Narrator: A host of other precious wares are depicted.[ music ends] For instance, in the top row, notice the textiles. In the middle, you can see strings of jade beads, and beneath them are bunches of feathers from other tropical birds. The facing page details what the tribute goods are and how often they were paid.
Kim Richter: Through this manuscript, we can chart the movement of these types of materials and precious objects, and see how they ultimately came to Central Mexico. The visual record together with the written words is invaluable in order to help us understand how the Aztec Empire functioned.
