A boy, dressed as the goddess, Xilonen, is shown wearing a cloak, a plume of quetzal feathers, and a headdress. Also included above his head is a head wearing a green stone necklace and, at his feet, a lion. The text describes this month as being the feast of the more important lords and chiefs and is celebrated with greater ostentation than the previous one.
Source creator:
Tovar, Juan de, ca. 1546-ca. 1626
Source Title:
Historia de la benida de los yndios apoblar a Mexico de las partes remotas de Occidente los sucessos y perigrinaçion es del camino su gouierno, ydolos y templos dellos, ritos y cirimonias ... calandarios delos tiempos
Source place of publication:
Mexico
Source date:
ca. 1585
notes:
This month, hueytecuilthuitli, identified as July with the astrological symbol of Leo, is called Great Festival of the Lords. This month was dedicated to Xilonen, whose name signified ear of young corn. She was also known as Chicomecoatl or Seven Serpents. The Tovar manuscript is divided into three sections. This third section of the manuscript contains the Tovar calendar which records a continuous Mexican calendar with months, weeks, days, dominical letters, and church festivals of a Christian 365-day year.
Time Period:
1492-1600
Subject Area:
Indigenous peoples
geographic area:
Spanish America
Subject headings:
Aztec calendar; Aztec gods; Indians of Mexico; Mexico--History--To 1519
References:
Kubler, G. & Gibson, C. The Tovar Calendar, Memoirs of the Connecticut Academy of Arts & Sciences, vol. XI, p. 26-27
Provenance/Donor:
Acquired from the collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps in 1946.
