Image: Mujer Cihuacóatl advirtiendo a la gente de la destrucción de Tenochtitlán, en el folio 3r del siglo VIII

Description: One of the two renditions of the 6th omen described in the Florentine Codex, a 16th-century Mexican manuscript by Spanish friar Bernardino de Sahagún, which warned of the destruction of the Mexica Empire. According to legend, shortly before the Mexica Empire fell into Spanish control in 1521, eight unusual events occurred during the reign of Moctezuma II that were interpreted as a warning of the destruction of the empire. The 6th event is described in two different ways: the first depiction shown here, which appears in book VIII of the manuscript, describes the presence of the snake-woman deity Cihuacoatl warning with sadness of the imminent destruction, crying out "Oh, my children! I will have to leave you!" The second depiction, described in book XII, describes a weeping woman who wandered during the night crying out "Oh, my children! Where will I get you?"
Title: Mujer Cihuacóatl advirtiendo a la gente de la destrucción de Tenochtitlán, en el folio 3r del siglo VIII
Credit: World Digital Library: https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_10619/?sp=9
Author: Manuscript by Bernardino de Sahagún. Illustration by an unknown artist.
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No