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Film, Video The Codex Huexotzinco: Deciphering a Lost World of Art to Reveal its Secret Codes

Transcript: TEXT

About this Item

Title

  • The Codex Huexotzinco: Deciphering a Lost World of Art to Reveal its Secret Codes

Summary

  • Barbara Mundy, Jay I. Kislak Chair for the Study of the History and Cultures of the Early Americas at the Library of Congress, and Martha and Donald Robertson Chair in Latin American Art at Tulane University, tells the story of the Codex Huexotzinco, a rare painted manuscript from 16th century Mexico. The manuscript was created in 1531, less than a decade after the fall of the Aztec empire to Spanish conquistadors. Written using a pictographic system, it shows the tribute goods delivered to new Spanish overlords from the town of Huexotzinco (today, Huejotzingo, Puebla). Among them were luxury textiles, and a painting created out of brilliant iridescent feathers. Because of what it depicts, and how it is painted, the Codex offers a unique understanding of artistic production in Mexico from before the Spanish Conquest, and shows the course of its development under Spanish rule.

Event Date

  • May 12, 2022

Running Time

  • 56 minutes 16 seconds

Online Format

  • video
  • image
  • online text

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The Codex Huexotzinco: Deciphering a Lost World of Art to Reveal its Secret Codes. 2022. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-10276/.

APA citation style:

(2022) The Codex Huexotzinco: Deciphering a Lost World of Art to Reveal its Secret Codes. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-10276/.

MLA citation style:

The Codex Huexotzinco: Deciphering a Lost World of Art to Reveal its Secret Codes. 2022. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/webcast-10276/>.