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“Aztec Feather Mosaics of the Old and New World”
List of Figures:
Figure 1: Bernardino de Sahagún and Collaborators, Amanteca in the Florentine Codex (General History of the Things of New Spain), Book 9, ca. 1577-79, ink on paper, 32 x 22 cm, Laurentian Library, Florence, Italy. Figure 2: Unknown Amantecas, Moctezuma’s Headdress, n.d., quetzal feathers gold plates and leather, 116 cm high, 175 cm diameter, Weltmuseum Wien, Vienna, Austria. Figure 3: Unknown Amantecas, Ahuizotl Shield, ca. 1500, feathers on agave tree bark, 70 cm diameter, Weltmuseum Wien, Vienna, Austria. Figure 4: Unknown Amantecas, Bishop’s Featherwork Mitre, ca. 1559-66, feathers on amatl paper, 31.7 x 41.5 cm, Hispanic Society Museum and Library, New York City, New York. Figure 5: Unknown Amantecas, Mass of St. Gregory, ca. 1539, feathers on wood with touches of paint, 26.75 x 22 inches, Musée des Jacobins, Auch, France.
Introduction
The tradition of pre-colonial Aztec featherwork was an important decorative arts form practiced throughout Mesoamerica for purposes such as ceremoniously honoring leaders and paying homage to Aztec gods and goddesses. Under the instruction of Catholic missionaries during the Spanish Colonial period, the pre-Hispanic, indigenous artistic tradition of featherwork mosaics was transformed to depict and project Christian scenes and stories, rather than indigenous ones. This paper will cover pre- and post-Colonial Aztec featherwork mosaics, and the importance of feathers within this transformed indigenous art tradition. The project aims to explore the nature of materiality in feather mosaics, both in Aztec and Christian religions. In this essay, it will be argued that the luminosity in feather mosaics served to bridge the gap between the natural and divine worlds in both Europe and the Aztec Empire. Just as the colorful feathers of these mosaics could communicate the connection between the sacred and the secular in the Aztec culture, feathers could likewise convey ideas of Christianity and the religious world through their displays of divine color and light.
Feathers in the Aztec Empire
Featherwork mosaics and featherworks were art traditions in Mesoamerica that had been practiced long before the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in 1519. Feathers were an important medium for artists in the Aztec Empire, as they were highly valued for their iridescence, or their ability to shift in color when seen from different angles. In Figure 1, an Aztec feather worker, also called amanteca, is documented in the Florentine Codex, an ethnographic research study conducted by the Spanish during the sixteenth century in Mesoamerica (Figure 1). The illustration depicts the process of an amanteca processing feathers. The amantecas used orchid based glues to secure the feathers down to wood, leather, or cloth materials. Feathers were extremely versatile, and were used in headdresses, capes, fans, armbands, shields, loincloths, and other articles of clothing worn during the Aztec Empire’s reign.
Birds and their colorful plumage had significant social and cultural value within the lives of people living in pre-Colonial Mexico as well. Birds and their feathers were objects of exchange, and were a source of economy for the Aztec people and the imperial government. The Aztec civilization had developed an extensive wealth of knowledge on birds— their behaviors, their ecosystems and of course, their feathers. It was reported by Spanish conquistadors that the aviaries run by the Aztec government resembled small palaces, and when Cortez first came to Tenochtitlan, he himself remarked on the splendor of the aviaries that the Aztec people looked after. The birds were bred for their plumage, but were cared for and were treated with respect.
Iridescent feathers were also considered important to the Aztec society for religious and ceremonial purposes as they reflected the sacred realm and were closely associated with many Aztec gods. The Aztec tradition of feather mosaics carried deep religious meaning, as feathers were divinely associated with sacred deities such as Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god of death and resurrection, and Huitzilopochtli, the sun and war god, typically depicted as hummingbird or eagle. In the indigenous religions of ancient Central America, birds were sacred animals capable of transcending the water, earth, and sky realms. Birds appear in many religious stories in Mesoamerica as well. An ancient foundational myth explains how it was decided that Tenochtitlan would be the capital of the Aztec Empire. According to legend, the Aztec people wandered the lands until they sighted an eagle perched on a cactus eating a snake. This imagery can be seen on the flag of Mexico today. Birds were also ritualistically sacrificed for ceremonial purposes in the Aztec Empire, amongst humans and other religiously significant animals.
For these reasons, among others, feathers were often used during religious ceremonies throughout Mesoamerica. One example of a ceremonial use of feathers is the headdress of Montezuma II, the ninth emperor of the Aztec Empire (Figure 1). The headdress of Montezuma was made mainly from iridescent quetzal tail-feathers. Iridescence was especially characteristic of the quetzal, with its shimmering plumage appearing sometimes as blue and sometimes green, depending on the light an angle. When worn, the feathers that made up the headdress were meant to shimmer in movement and light. This object was likely to have been sent to Europe from Mexico, by Cortez himself. The headdress can be found today in the Weltmuseum Wien, an ethnology museum in Vienna, but it is currently under ownership disputes for repatriation between Vienna and Mexico.
The piece Ahuizotl Feather Shield is an example of a featherwork mosaic that predates Spanish colonization as it was created in the year 1500 (Figure 3). The feathers that make up the piece came from the blue cotinga, scarlet macaw, yellow oriole, and rose spoonbill. The construction of the shield features intertwined reed mats, hide edges, wooden sticks for reinforcement, leather straps, and gold leaf for the feathers to reflect. The coyote, in Aztec mythology, represents the trickster god of music and mischief. It opens its mouth, and out spills the Aztec hieroglyph for burnt fields and water which according to Nahuatl scripts and codices, were symbols of war. Similarly to the feather headdress of Montezuma II, the shield was ceremonial, and would have used by its owners in this context. Through movement, the iridescent feathers would have given life to the coyote. As the person wielding the shield moves, the light refracts in the feathers, creating a visual effect that illuminates and animates the subject of the coyote god. The Ahuizotl Feather Shield is the only surviving feather mosaic shield from the pre-Colonial era featuring a representational design. The indigenous Aztec style can be seen in the piece as it is both rich in symbolism and religiously influenced. The shield honors Aztec mythology, rather than Christian devotional images which we will take a look at in a minute.
Spanish Colonization
The city of Tenochtitlan fell to Cortez and the Spanish colonists in May of 1521. Countless featherwork mosaics were destroyed as they bore symbols of Pagan influence. Today there are less than ten known pieces of purely indigenous, pre-Colonial Aztec featherwork that have survived. Along with the destruction of the featherwork, many of the Aztec aviaries were desecrated and burned to the ground. However, after the conquest of the Aztec empire, there was an influx in production of featherwork from Mexico. Europeans had been so enamored by the delicate featherwork of the amanteca, that the indigenous tradition of Aztec feather mosaics was subsequently transformed. This artistic technique would later be used to magnify messages of Christianity in Europe. Local artists were forced to shift their production of these feather mosaics. Rather than honoring their own traditional culture and religions, Aztec feather artists projected Christian messages to those in the Americas as well as in Europe.
Featherwork Transformed
In Europe, the feathers of these Aztec mosaics could effectively communicate ideas about Christianity through evoking the divine light of the heavens. Due to the iridescence of these feathers, when light shifts, a luminous effect is created, calling upon ideas of Christian symbolism, and depicting Jesus Christ shrouded in shimmering vibrance. Light in Christianity is symbolic of purity, spirituality, and genesis, as Jesus is often described as the light of the world. Where the luminous qualities of feathers in these mosaics once honored Aztec rulers and deities, they would now glorify God. The resulting featherworks being produced in Tenochtitlán after colonization would be a blending of two entirely different pictorial worlds.
This piece, entitled the Bishop’s Featherwork Mitre from Michoacán is one of seven surviving featherwork mitres created by indigenous Aztec artists in Mexico during the Spanish Colonial period (Figure 4). The Bishop’s Featherwork Mitre, is a piece made up of both miter, or the headpiece, and the vimpa, the shawl typically draped around the shoulders of a Bishop or Pope. The miter and vimpa are extremely ornate and decorative. The subject matter depicts the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. On the highest point of the miter is God, who sits atop a bed of clouds. He holds up his right hand in a sign of benediction, with a golden cross in his left hand. Jesus, displayed in the center of the miter, is nailed to the cross. Other evangelists and disciples are also depicted with their associated symbols. A twin mitre portraying similar imagery and symbols was created at the same time and given to Pope Paul IV. In comparison to the Ahuizotl Feather Shield, one can see that the subject of the work has become more complex in composition, and more reflective of the European painting style of the time. The iridescent nature of the mitre is successful in evoking the qualities of light previously discussed as vital to Christian symbolism. In taking a closer look at the piece, the viewer can see through the composite nature of the feathers, just how dynamic the scene becomes. The thousands of tiny fibers bend and reflect light in all directions, creating the illusion of divine light and movement.
The Mass of St. Gregory was a featherwork commissioned by the nephew of Montezuma II, Diego de Alvarado Huanitzin, for Pope Paul III, whose papal decree in 1537 prevented further enslavement and protected the rights of the indigenous Aztec people (Figure 5). The production of this piece was supervised Pedro de Gante, a Franciscan missionary who established the School of San Jose de los Naturales, which trained indigenous Aztec artists in sixteenth Century Mexico in European styles and techniques. Similarly to the Bishop’s Featherwork Mitre, the subject depicts a Christian scene with related religious iconography. The Mass of Saint Gregory was a beloved subject in Spanish Renaissance paintings. The painting portrays the body of Jesus Christ emerging before the sixth-century pope Gregory during the sacred consecration of the Eucharist. Just as we see in Bishop’s Featherwork Mitre, the composition of the piece is features a European style for the arrangement of its subjects. The many layers of feathers work to create a sort of relief structure. When getting closer to the piece, it becomes clear that the material becomes activated by the light refracted in the feathers.
Unexpected Connections in Materiality
Feathers are a unique material that challenge the notion of surface in artworks. The medium is activated through light, which creates the illusion of the religious artworks shimmering with spirituality and vibrance. The dynamics of light interacting in feathers is not unlike the interaction of color and light that shines through stained-glass windows found in Cathedrals, or that reflects off of precious stones in Christian Byzantine mosaics. These mediums play with the interaction of light to display divinity in heavenly scenes.
Closing Thoughts
The artistic use of resplendent feathers was so valuable in creating a connection between the spiritual and natural worlds in Aztec and European cultures. Birds exist, in nature, in a space between earth and the heavens. This idea of their flight and movement is echoed in these feather mosaics, which are brought to life by their iridescent materials. Feathers successfully communicate the connection between the sacred and secular worlds through displays of divine color and light. There was, and still is, an innate human fascination with the materiality of feathers in art. The importance of this medium is recognized in the art of many cultures, and is a historical practice worth further investigation.
List of Figures
Figure 1, Bernardino de Sahagún and Collaborators, Amanteca in the Florentine Codex (General History of the Things of New Spain), Book 9, ca. 1577-79, ink on paper, 32 x 22 cm, Laurentian Library, Florence, Italy
Figure 2, Unknown Amantecas, Moctezuma’s Headdress, n.d., quetzal feathers gold plates and leather, 116 cm high, 175 cm diameter, Weltmuseum Wien, Vienna, Austria
Figure 3, Unknown Amantecas, Ahuizotl Shield, ca. 1500, feathers on agave tree bark, 70 cm diameter, Weltmuseum Wien, Vienna, Austria
Figure 4, Unknown Amantecas, Bishop’s Featherwork Mitre, ca. 1559-66, feathers on amatl paper, 31.7 x 41.5 cm, Hispanic Society Museum and Library, New York City, New York
Figure 5, Unknown Amantecas, Mass of St. Gregory, ca. 1539, feathers on wood with touches of paint, 26.75 x 22 inches, Musée des Jacobins, Auch, France
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