Codex Vaticanus A (3738)

A rarity: this manuscript documenting indigenous Mexican culture was written in Italian
The text on cosmology, mythology, and ethnography is from the hand of the Dominican Pedro de los Rios
As a draft of the final work, the manuscript is full of notes and information that is invaluable for researchers

Codex Vaticanus A (3738)

Codex Vatic. Lat. 3738 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vatican City, Vatican City State)

Description

Codex Vaticanus A (3738)

The detailed illustrations of this codex provided comparable translation services for the understanding of the Chichimeken as the Rosetta Stone did for the decipherment of hieroglyphics. The Chichimecs refer to those indigenous inhabitants of Mexico who originated north of the high valley of present-day Mexico City. They were considered uncivilized for a long time, partly because of linguistic differences from the other cultures of Mesoamerica. The present Codex Vaticanus A 3738 was written after 1566 by the Dominican friar Pedro de los Ríos, who as a member of the Order capable of studying the original cultures of Mexico well. The buildings of the Dominican Order still bear witness to this type of study in many parts of Mexico. The work of Pedro de los Ríos, which is presented here in an Italian translation, thus became an important aid in understanding this culture, which is otherwise difficult to access.

Codex Vaticanus A (3738)

This manuscript was created between 1570 and 1589, either in the highlands of Mexico or it may have already existed in Italy, similar to the case of the Paris Codex Telleriano Remensis; a copy of a joint original draft which Robert H. Barlow named the “Codex Huitzilopochtli”. While the Codex Telleriano Remensis clearly is written by several writers, the Codex Vaticanus 3738 contains only one style, however divided into cosmological, mythological, and ethnographical sections. The hypothetically collected manuscript served as a draft for the final work and it is this fact without a doubt which accounts for the great value of this manuscript. The seemingly well-known author, the Dominican Pedro de los Rios (who the Codex Rios is named after) is responsible for the Italian text from the original 101 folio European papers of the comprehensive manuscript Vaticanus A.

Codicology

Alternative Titles: Codice Vaticano A
Codex Ríos
Type: Manuscript on parchment
Size / Format: 206 pages / 48.5 × 37.0 cm
Origin: Mexico
Date: Ca. 1580
Epochs: Late Middle Ages Onwards
Style: Pre-Columbian
Renaissance
Genre: Mythology / Prophecies
Astronomy / Astrology
Language: Italian
Artist / School: Pedro de los Rios (d. 1547) (scribe)

Available facsimile editions:

Detail Picture

Codex Vaticanus A (3738)

Figure with 20 Day Signs

The image of the Zodiac Man has existed since classical antiquity and was popular throughout the Middle Ages and into the 17th century. It was referred to by physicians who looked to the movements of the heavens for guidance on when to perform procedures like bloodletting. Astrological signs were thus associated with different parts of the body and this diagram “translates” this system by attaching Aztec signs to parts of the body in place of the astrological signs assigned to them in Europe.

Single Page

Codex Vaticanus A (3738)

The Fourth Trecena

Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican calendars consist of 260 days divided into 20 “trecenas” or 13-day periods, with the word itself being derived from the Spanish for “a group of thirteen”. The red boxes at the top of the page contain 10 of the 13 day-signs associated with the fourth trecena of the Aztec calendar.

An image of Chalchiuhtlicue or "She of the Jade Skirt", an Aztec deity of water, rivers, seas, streams, storms, and baptism who was highly revered at the time of the Spanish conquest is featured in the center of the page. She is shown with tools for spinning and weaving. The figures swimming in the stream emanating from her dress could represent either offspring or those being carried away toward death – both are part of the same cycle.

Facsimile Editions

#1 Codex Vaticanus A (3738)

Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA) – Graz, 1979

Publisher: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA) – Graz, 1979

Binding: Half leather binding.

Commentary: 1 volume
Languages: English, French, German, Spanish

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