Decoding the Codex Borgia: Visual Symbols of Time and Space in Ancient Mexico

Exploring the meanings in the intricate symbolism of a rare Precolumbian manuscript



This
book explores the rich symbolism of the Codex Borgia, a masterpiece of
Precolumbian art dating to the fifteenth century, one of the few
surviving books from before the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Susan
Milbrath uses information from the fields of art history, anthropology,
ethnohistory, natural history, and cultural astronomy to show how the
manuscript’s intricate and colorful imagery conveys complex ideas
related to Mesoamerican myths and religion.



Milbrath sets
the work in historical context, establishing its provenance in the
Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley of Central Mexico and pinpointing the date it was
painted based on rain almanacs found in its pages. She offers a new
interpretation of a unique narrative section that has long intrigued
scholars, arguing that the ceremonial variations depicted in it are
related to the solar cycle. Overall, this book opens new doors in the
study of the Codex Borgia by identifying seasonal imagery in the
narrative and associated astronomical events, especially those that
involve the three brightest objects in the sky: the sun, the moon, and
Venus. Decoding the Codex Borgia is an illuminating journey into the culture and cosmology of the Aztecs and their neighboring communities.