Let's take a look at the Frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza, created by the Aztecs / Mexica in the 16th century. The Codex Mendoza is a mysterious and remarkable piece of cartographic art created by the Aztecs, or Mexica, in the early years of Spanish colonization. The Codex's first page is a map of Tenochtitlan, the major city of the Aztecs (now known today as Mexico City). It draws the figures of the founders of the city on the map, along with the sacred geometry and layout of the city, with the eagle sun god Huitzilopochtli at the very center of the map, perched on the cactus growing from a rock. This design is today mirrored on the Mexican flag.
The map is remarkable for its traditional Aztec style, not seen in many other preserved documents. The map's origin is unknown, but it was perhaps commissioned by the Spanish. It was sent across the Atlantic to Europe, and after passing through numerous hands it today lives at Oxford University in the Bodleian Library. The frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza is a colorful, remarkable, iconic map that preserves something of the history of the Aztecs in a time before colonization, and it contains many clues for understanding traditional Aztec culture, art, and spirituality.
My goal with this series is to explore the amazing maps that humanity has created over the span of human history, and to use these as ways to connect with our ancestors. I hope you enjoy going on this journey with me, and please let me know if you like this format and if you want to see more videos.
A huge thanks to everyone that helped to contribute to this video and whose works are featured here, including:
Images:
The Bodleian Library, Oxford: digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/obj... (CC NC 4.0)
Pexels: www.pexels.com/
Wikipedia
Music:
Osvaldo Padrón Pérez ( / uzbaksonidosdelcorazon )
Dr. Jose Cuellar © President and Fellows of Harvard College
Research
Aztecs from Atzlan: • The Aztecs from Aztlan...
Carlos Anílber Rivas, Fabricating History: escholarship.org/content/qt9d...
The Essential Codex Mendoza: www.csus.edu/indiv/o/obriene/...
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_M...
Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, Khan Academy: www.khanacademy.org/humanitie...
Vistas Gallery: vistasgallery.ace.fordham.edu...
And others.
A nod to Great Art Explained ( / @greatartexplained ) for helping me come up with the idea for this series.
And of course, thanks to all the many hands along the course of history that created and shared such works, so we can all learn more from the past.
Love,
Victor
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All the videos, songs, images, and graphics used in the video belong to their respective owners and I or this channel does not claim any right over them. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
00:00 - 00:59 Drawing the Codex Mendoza
01:00 - 03:22 Maps Aren't Just About Directions
03:23 - 06:20 The Spiritual Layout of Tenochtitlan
06:21 - 09:19 The Founding of Mexico City
09:20 - 10:52 The Drawing and Art Style of the Aztecs
10:53 - 14:23 What Happened to the Codex Mendoza?
14:24 - 16:10 Appreciating this Beautiful History
#aztecs #cartography #history #mexico #map