jan 1, 1473 - Coyolxauhqui Monolith

Description:

In 1473, the Mexica created the Coyolxauhqui monolith, a circular monolith carved in low relief at 11ft in diameter which would have originally been painted in bright colours. The monolith depicts the female figure on her back, with her head, arms, and legs severed from her body and organized around her in a circle. She wears golden bells, earrings, sandals, and bracelets, and a belt made of a serpent with a skull attached to the back. Her torso is naked, a Mexica sign of shame, humiliation, and defeat. Notably, her belly is stretched, meaning she was a mother. The monolith was located at the base of the stairs of the Huitzilopochtli temple at the Templo Mayor. Within Mexica mythology, the monolith depicts the moment Huitzilopochtli vanquished Coyolxauhqui, his jealous sister, and threw her down the mountain. Huitzilopochtli was the Mexica’s patron deity, and the location of the monolith suggests it came as a warning to all those who entered Tenochtitlan.

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