Mapa de Tequaltiche 1584

Mapa de Tequaltiche 1584, watercolour and ink on paper, width 124 cms., Hispanic Society of America, New York

The Mapa de Tequaltiche was produced by an Indigenous artist as part of the Relaciones geográficas compiled between 1579 and 1585, on the orders of Philip II, by local Spanish officials in the Viceroyalty of New Spain...
The valuable ethnohistorical information contained in the Relación is essential for the interpretation of the map. That said, numerous scenes found on the map are not detailed in the Relación, the most notable being the confrontation at lower left between Spanish soldiers and indigenous warriors, a depiction of a battle from the brutally suppressed Caxcan rebellion, known as the Mixtón War, which lasted from 1540 to 1542.

From Spain and the Hispanic World: Treasures from the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2023, p. 63

Photo by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore.