Introduction
The original Lienzo de Tlaxcala was a painted cotton sheet approximately 2 meters wide and 5 meters long. It was probably created around 1552. A large scene at the top depicted the political structure of the Central Mexican kingdom of Tlaxcala. Below, a seven-by-thirteen grid of cells contained dozens of small scenes that showed how the Tlaxcalans and their Spanish allies defeated the Aztecs and took over their empire. In other words, the lower portion of the Lienzo told the story of the ‘Conquest of Mexico’ from a Native American point of view. The small scenes which told this story read from left to right, top to bottom, one row at a time. The original Lienzo de Tlaxcala is lost. The version you see in Mesolore has been recreated using images from a lithograph facsimile printed in 1892. For more information, see the Introduction to the Lienzo de Tlaxcala Nahua tutorial.
1552
Tlaxcalan
200 cm x 500 cm