[WIP] Throne hall murals (Patreon)

These are the murals that I designed for the throne hall of Moquihuix. I intended to express the overarching theme of the drawing, which is war, even in the background.

The first image depicts Huitzilopochtli and Tepeyollotl in warrior attire. These will be placed on the walls just behind the royal throne. Huitzilopochtli, Tepeyollotl-Tezcatlipoca, and Xipe Totec (will be partially visible) are the patron deities of Mexica kings, therefore their presence in the royal hall is fitting. Although their clothing is mostly based on the Codex Borbonicus, the pose is inspired by the marching warrior mural from Building III (Tzinacalli) of the Malinalco architectural complex (see above).

The second is based on folio 31r of Codex Telleriano-Remensis. This scene shows Maxtla of Azcapotzalco and Tlacateotl of Tlatelolco attacking an unidentified city-state represented as a temple (see below).

This reflects Tlatelolco’s glory days as the principal ally of the Tepaneca Empire. Although both Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco were subjects of Azcapotzalco (capital of Tepaneca Empire) in their early period, the Tepaneca clearly favored the latter. Huei tlatoani (emperor) Tezozomoctli appointed his own son, Cuacuapitzahuac, as the first king of Tlatelolco. As a result, all Tlatelolca rulers belonged to the extended Tepaneca dynasty. According to the chronicler fray Juan de Torquemada, Tlacateotl, who was Cuacuapitzahuac’s son and the second king of Tlatelolco, was also the general of Tepaneca army. This explains why he is shown as a warrior alongside Tezozomoctli’s son Maxtla in the codex.

I did not used the Codex Telleriano-Remensis scene literally. Instead, I redrew them in an artstyle inspired on Codex Mendoza. Given that it was made by Mexica scribes in the early 1540s, which predates Telleriano-Remensis, I think it would be more appropriate to reference its artstyle for the pre-columbian mural. I personally prefer the aesthetics of Codex Mendoza as well.

I also elaborated on the attire of the two lords. Instead of the simple green and blue cuirasses of the original, I drew their full attire based on Codex Matritenses. I also added the cuaxolotl back standard for Maxtla, which is inspired by the fact that one of the titles that Tepaneca emperors used was ‘Xolotl.’ This parasol-like standard is adorned with the head of Xolotl—the dog-headed deity.

The third and fourth murals are the conquest lists of the first two Tlatelolca tlatoque. Each city-state is represented with their respective glyphs. The list is compiled from Anales de Tlatelolco, Chimalpahin’s Séptima Relación, and Book 8 of Codex Florentine. The format of the list is based on conquest lists of Codex Mendoza. The list itself, from upper left to lower right, is as follows:

Cuacuapitzahuac : Tenayocan, Xaltocan, Cuauhnahuac, Mizquic, Cuauhtinchan, Coacalco, Chimalhuacan, Xilotepec, Xochimilco, Cuitlahuac

Tlacateotl : Toltitlan, Cuauhtitlan, Chalco, Tollantzinco, Otompan, Tecpantlacalco, Coyohuacan, Ahuilizapan, Acolman.