Codex San Pedro Atlapolco
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Caption
Nahuatl. Codex San Pedro Atlapolco, 18th century. Ink and watercolor on amate paper, 30 5/8 x 38 5/16 in. (77.8 x 97.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund, 41.1249. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 41.1249_PS2.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Culture
Title
Codex San Pedro Atlapolco
Date
18th century
Geography
Place made: San Pedro Atlalpolco, Mexico
Medium
Ink and watercolor on amate paper
Classification
Dimensions
30 5/8 x 38 5/16 in. (77.8 x 97.3 cm)
Credit Line
Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund
Accession Number
41.1249
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
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Frequent Art Questions
What can you tell me of the codex San Pedro?
This document is part of the Techialoyan corpus, a group of pictorial documents produced by and for native communities in the State and Valley of Mexico, in the 18th century.The drawing of ink and watercolor depicts a church under construction in the center of the community. Native men dressed in loose tunics, belted at the waist, carry loads of construction materials toward the building site. In front of the building, a friar is seated at a table with a pen and several pages of writing. Behind him, native nobles gesture in support, and in front native women kneel and form the audience...There are 12 Nahuatl inscriptions in light black ink, oriented in various directions. The place name San Pedro Atlapolco occurs several times, which is why the document is believed to have originated in that community, and to record the foundation of its church.The codex as a document is a very traditional nahuatl format, and yes, it has to do with the nahuatl inscriptions.What's going on here?
That's a great question! The Codex San Pedro Atlapolco depicts a church under construction in the center of the community. The figure you focused on is a friar (a religious leader in the Catholic church) seated at a table with a pen and several pages of writing. Behind him, Indigenous nobles (likely Nahuatl individuals) gesture in support!
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