"Los quatro varrios de Mexico"

Attribution:

Unknown artist

Date:

ca. 1540s; reprinted 1878

Description:

Initially drawn as part of a 1565 investigation into viceroy Luis de Velasco’s abuses against Indigenous communities in the Valley of Mexico, this work depicts the nauhcampan (quadrants) of pre-contact Mexico City. The “four barrios,” originally known as Atzacoalco, Teopan, Cuepopan-Tlaquechiuhca, and Moyotlan, are shown using only their Spanish names: San Sebastián, San Pablo, Santa María, and San Juan, respectively. At center, above the symbol representing Mexico City, is Fray Pedro de Gante, the Franciscan missionary who built the first church in Mexico City devoted to the instruction of Indigenous peoples, San José de los Naturales.

Bib. Reference:

Pintura del gobernador, alcaldes y regidores de México (Madrid: Imprenta de Manuel G. Hernández)

Bancroft call number:

f F1231 .O85

Digital image courtesy of:

The Getty Research Institute, via HathiTrust