Azcatitlan Codex Returns to Mexico After Nearly Two Centuries
For the first time since 1840, the Azcatitlan Codex, a 50-folio manuscript detailing the history of Tenochtitlan, is being exhibited at the National Museum of Anthropology (MNA) in Mexico City for a three-month period, having been loaned from France. This manuscript, created between the late 16th and early 17th centuries, illustrates the Mexica migration and the Spanish conquest. Founded in 1325, Tenochtitlan became an empire under Montezuma II before its fall to Hernán Cortés in 1519. There is a dispute over the ownership of the codex, with both Mexico and France asserting their claims. This loan follows Mexico's earlier loan of the Boturini Codex to France, marking 200 years of Franco-Mexican relations. The codex is displayed behind protective glass.
Key facts
- The Azcatitlan Codex is on display at Mexico City’s National Museum of Anthropology for three months on loan from France.
- It is the first time since 1840 that the manuscript has returned to Mexico.
- The codex consists of 50 folios created in the Valley of Mexico between the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
- It depicts the Mexica migration from Aztlán, the reigns of Tenochtitlan’s rulers, and the Spanish conquest and evangelization.
- Tenochtitlan was founded in 1325 and fell to Hernán Cortés’s forces in 1521.
- The manuscript was sold in Paris to collector Eugène Goupil and donated to France’s National Library around 1898 by his widow.
- Mexico loaned the Boturini Codex to France for three months as part of the exchange, celebrating 200 years of Franco-Mexican diplomacy.
- Mexico will not attempt to reclaim the codex from France during the loan.
Entities
Artists
- Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl
- Nezahualcóyotl
- Montezuma II
- Hernán Cortés
- Eugène Goupil
- Jose Luis Castaneda
- Roberto Velasco
- Maria Eugenia Castañeda
- Baltazar Brito Guadarrama
- Huitzilopochtli
- Christian Thorsberg
Institutions
- National Museum of Anthropology
- Mexico News Daily
- Secretaría de Cultura
- Reuters
- Library of Congress
- France’s National Library
- El País
- Wikimedia Commons
- AFP
- Getty Images
- Smithsonian Magazine
Locations
- Mexico City
- Mexico
- Tenochtitlan
- Valley of Mexico
- Aztlán
- Nicaragua
- Lake Texcoco
- Paris
- France
- Texcoco
- Aztlan