Motzvme, Roy de Mexiqve · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: Motzvme, Roy de Mexiqve
Subject: Aztecs; Indigenous peoples – Mexico; Aztecs – Kings and rulers; Indigenous weapons – Mexico; Indigenous peoples – Clothing – Mexico; Headdresses; Featherwork
Period: 1550-1600;
Geographic: Mexico; Guatemala; Central America; North America; Paris; France
Description: Motzume (Motecuhzoma in Nahuatl, Montezuma in Spanish) is shown in portrait from the waist up. His body is angled to his left and he gazes at the viewer. He wears a headdress that wraps around his head with a spike above his forehead, feathers around the top and a piece of cloth tied to the right side. Motecuhzoma wears a tunic bunched at his left shoulder and draping over his right side. He holds a spear in his right hand and point with his left at a small round shield with feathers around the lower rim. Motecuhzoma was the last Mexica (Aztec) ruler before the Spanish colonization, ruling from 1502 to 1520. After inviting a group of Spaniards led by Hernán Cortés into the city Tenochtitlan in late 1519, Motecuhzoma was taken hostage by the Spanish. This led to conflict between the Mexica and the Spanish, and Motecuhzoma was stoned to death in 1520 by his own people for his lack of action against the Spanish.
Image Creator: Unknown (Engraver); Widow of Jacques Kerver (Printer); Guillaume Chaudière (Printer)
Type: StillImage; Copperplate engraving
Identifier: mta:23576
Language: fre
Source Name: Les Vrais Povtraits et Vies des Hommes illvstres Grecz, Latins, et Payens
Parent Collection: 1584 Paris; 1584 Paris
Image: mta_23576_OBJ.png
Collection: European Illustrations of Native Americans
Subject: Aztecs; Indigenous peoples – Mexico; Aztecs – Kings and rulers; Indigenous weapons – Mexico; Indigenous peoples – Clothing – Mexico; Headdresses; Featherwork

Media: mta_23576_OBJ.png