Visual Poetics

FIGURE 2. The tribute province of Tlapacoyan: folio 14v of the Matrícula de Tributos.

FIGURE 2. The tribute province of Tlapacoyan: folio 14v of the Matrícula de Tributos.

FIGURE 3. The tribute province of Xoconochco: folio 13r of the Matrícula de Tributos.

FIGURE 3. The tribute province of Xoconochco: folio 13r of the Matrícula de Tributos.

FIGURE 4. A messenger speaks to four nobles from Tlaxcala: Cell 1 of the Lienzo de Tlaxcala.

FIGURE 4. A messenger speaks to four nobles from Tlaxcala: Cell 1 of the Lienzo de Tlaxcala.

FIGURE 5. Malinche and Cortés are greeted with gifts: Cell 4 of the Lienzo de Tlaxcala.

FIGURE 5. Malinche and Cortés are greeted with gifts: Cell 4 of the Lienzo de Tlaxcala.

FIGURE 6. The escape from Tenochtitlan on the Noche Triste: the first part of Cell 18 of the Lienzo de Tlaxcala.

FIGURE 6. The escape from Tenochtitlan on the Noche Triste: the first part of Cell 18 of the Lienzo de Tlaxcala.

The previous paragraphs focused on the poetic structures of Central Mexican verbal art. Both metaphoric speeches and sung prayers were composed using couplets, triplets, lists, and prose. Now we want to consider how those verbal poetic structures may have influenced visual poetic structures. We will look at two full pages from the Matrí­cula de Tributos and three cells from the Lienzo de Tlaxcala. With these examples, you can see the connections linking verbal art and visual art, as well as how individual structures were combined to create larger scenes.

As a first example, consider folio 14v of the Matrícula (Figure 2). Since the Matrí­cula was a tribute record, you might think that its pages are artless bureaucratic lists. But a closer inspection suggests otherwise. The images on this page are elegantly composed, beginning with a list of places, moving on to an irregular triplet of capes, and ending with a split couplet of warrior costumes and shields:

These are the subject towns in the province of Tlapacoyan:
__Tlapacoyan, Xiloxochitlan, Xochiquauhtitlan, Tochtlan, Coapan, Aztaapan, Acazacatla
:horiz:
The tribute demanded from these towns includes:
:horiz:
__400 bundles of white capes with black stripes
__400 bundles of white capes
__400 bundles of white capes
:horiz:
__1 yellow Huaxtec warrior costume
__ __and a Twisted Gourd shield
__1 yellow Star Demon warrior costume
__ __and a Huaxtec Nose Ornament shield

:horiz:

The poetic composition of folio13r offers another example (Figure 3). The page depicts the tribute demanded from Xoconochco, located in what is now the southern coast of Guatemala. It was the tribute province farthest from Tenochtitlan, and as a result it only had to supply tribute twice a year (not four times a year as in other provinces). To represent these two annual tallies, folio 13r has been visually divided in two. Together, these two halves form an almost-symmetrical couplet. Each half is itself organized into a list of single items, couplets, and triplets:

(Left side)
Four of the subject towns in the tribute province of Xoconochco are
__Xoconochco and Ayotlan
__Acapetlatlan and Huehuetlan
:horiz:
The tribute demanded from these towns includes:
:horiz:
__A string of greenstone beads
:horiz:
__400 green feathers
__400 pink feathers
__400 blue feathers
:horiz:
__400 medium yellow feathers
__400 long green feathers
:horiz:
__1 gold labret, 20 jaguar skins, 1 gourd cup for drinking cacao, 80 bird skins, 80 bundles of cacao, and 1 piece of amber
:horiz:
__All these things will be given each year in the month of Ochpaniztli

:horiz:

(Right side)
Four of the subject towns in the tribute province of Xoconochco are
__Coyoacan and Mapachtepec
__Mazatlan and Huitzilan
:horiz:
The tribute demanded from these towns includes:
:horiz:
__A string of greenstone beads
:horiz:
__400 green feathers
__400 pink feathers
__400 blue feathers
:horiz:
__400 medium yellow feathers
__80 bird skins
__400 long green feathers
:horiz:
__1 gold labret, 20 jaguar skins, 80 bundles of cacao, 400 gourd cups for drinking cacao, and 1 piece of amber
:horiz:
__All these things will be given each year in the month of Tlacaxipeualiztli

:horiz:

Similar visual poetic structures can be found in the Lienzo de Tlaxcala. Cell 1 presents a strongly mirrored composition (Figure 4). In the center is a nearly-naked, barefoot, long-haired messenger from the Gulf Coast. He stands, but to his left and to his right are a pair of seated Tlaxcalan nobles, all wearing capes, headbands, and sandals. Schematically, this cell could be read like this:

A seated Tlaxcalan noble, finely dressed, looks to the right
A seated Tlaxcalan noble, finely dressed, looks to the right
__A standing messenger, nearly naked, stands in the center
A seated Tlaxcalan noble, finely dressed, looks to the left
A seated Tlaxcalan noble, finely dressed, looks to the left

:horiz:

In the verbal examples above we saw a number of “mirrored“ compositions. Cell 1 may provide a visual equivalent to those symmetrical verbal forms.

A more complicated visual layout is seen in Cell 4. The main scene can be divided into two halves. On the left stands the visual couplet of two indigenous nobles, holding out bouquets of flowers as they greet the visitors. On the right, the three visitors form an irregular triplet, consisting of a woman standing on the ground (Malinche) and two men mounted on horseback (Cortés and an unnamed soldier). In the foreground, the three offerings brought by the indigenous nobles themselves form an irregular triplet, with two baskets of eggs and three live turkeys. Finally, the water sign in the lower right-hand corner can be read as a simple phrase. A basic poetic reading of the visual structure of this page would look something like this:

An Otomi noble carrying a bouquet of flowers, and
a Tlaxcalan noble carrying a bouquet of flowers,
__greet the strangers who have come to Tlaxcala.
:horiz:
Malinche translates, standing on the ground
Cortes listens, mounted on a horse,
A Castilian warrior listens, mounted on a horse.
:horiz:
A basket of eggs,
a basket of eggs, and
three turkeys are presented as offerings.
:horiz:
All this takes place at Atlihuetzyan.

:horiz:

Be sure to note the complex interplay of visual pairs and visual triplets in this scene. The human figures are divided into two groups. The group on the left consists of two men. The group on the right consists of three people—one woman and two men. Similarly, the offerings present a very playful combination of images. There are two types of offerings, turkeys and baskets of eggs. These are presented in three clusters: two baskets of eggs, and one group of turkeys. The group of turkeys itself has a triplet structure: three birds are shown.

Cell 1 and Cell 4 are fairly simple cells. Most of the other cells of the Lienzo, however, are much more complicated. But paying attention to their visual composition can make them less confusing.

For example, consider the very first section of the extremely long Cell 18 (this cell occupies the space of four normal cells)(Figure 6). In this first section, Cortes and the Tlaxcalan and European soldiers are shown fleeing Tenochtitlan on a causeway. They are surrounded on all sides by water. The figures on the causeway can be visually divided into three groups of one, two, and three people. These could be read as a single introductory phrase, a couplet, and an irregular triplet:

Cortés, dressed in black and mounted on a horse, flees from Tenochtitlan on a causeway, along with
:horiz:
a Tlaxcalan warrior, wearing a twisted headband, and
a Tlaxcalan warrior, wearing a twisted headband, and
:horiz:
a Castilian warrior, wearing a metal helmet, and
a Tlaxcalan warrior, wearing a twisted headband, and
a Tlaxcalan warrior, wearing a twisted headband.

:horiz:

This neat 1-2-3 progression ends with the causeway. Beyond it, a dozen drowning men thrash in the waters of Lake Texcoco, their visual chaos contrasting with the visual order on the causeway.

In addition, in the waters above and below the causeway are a pair of Aztec warriors, each standing in a canoe. These four canoe-borne warriors divide into two visual couplets, one above and one below.

In preparing image-by-image commentaries on the Matrícula de Tributos and Lienzo de Tlaxcala, we kept these features of Central Mexican poetics in mind. Our commentaries contain many more details than the examples given in this tutorial, and so their poetic features are more complicated. However, both explanatory texts were written using the basic poetic forms we have discussed here.

The Poetics of Counting >
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