Mosaic mask of Quetzalcoatl
Mexica*/Mixtec, 15th-16th century AD
From Mexico
The Feathered Serpent
This mask is believed to represent Quetzalcoatl (‘the feathered
serpent’) or the rain god Tlaloc. Both deities are associated with
serpents. The mask is carved from a single piece of Cedrela
odorata wood and covered with turquoise mosaic work. The teeth
are made of white conch shell (Strombus).
The design incorporates two serpents, one in
pale green turquoise and one in blue, which encircle the eyes and
are entwined over the nose and around the mouth. The serpent tails
finish at the temples with rattles that are moulded in relief and
were originally gilded. Turquoise mosaic plumes hang on both sides
of the eye sockets.
The Spanish friar Bernardino de Sahagún,
writing in the 16th century, describes a mask like this one. It was
a gift of the Mexica emperor Moctezuma II to the Spanish
captain Hernán Cortés (1485-1547). Moctezuma thought Cortés was the
god Quetzalcoatl returning from the east and the mask described by
Sahagún was probably part of the adornments associated with this
god. According to Sahagún's description it was worn with a crown of
beautiful long greenish-blue iridescent feathers, probably those of
the quetzal (a tropical rain forest bird with shimmering
green-blue plumage).
While the feathers featured in the design of
this mask are consistent with the symbolic elements associated with
the image of Quetzalcoatl, the ‘goggle-eyes’ produced by the
intertwining serpents is a visual signifier often used to identify
the rain god Tlaloc.
*The people and culture we know as 'Aztec' referred to
themselves as the Mexica (pronounced 'Mé-shee-ka').
C. McEwan, A. Middleton, C.R. Cartwright, R.
Stacey Turquoise mosaics from Mexico (London, The
British Museum Press, 2006)
C. R. Cartwright and N. D. Meeks ‘Aztec conch
shell working: high- tech design’, British Museum Technical
Research Bulletin 1, (2007), 35-42.
C. McEwan, Ancient Mexico
in the British Museum(London, The British Museum
Press, 1994)