Aztec stone relief with eagle and snake

Relief plate with eagle and snake, olivine-basalt, Mexica (Aztec), c.1350-1521 CE, height 59 cms., Museum der Kulturen, Basel, Switzerland.

The eagle clutches a rattlesnake, whose typical rattle is visible beside its tail-plumage, behind the other claw. To the left below the bird’s beak there is a calendar sign which most probably represents the year ‘7 Reed’ and thus refers to either 1447 or, 52 years later, 1499.

From Aztecs, eds. Doris Kurella, Martin Berger and Inés de Castro, with INAH, Mexico - catalogue for the exhibition Azteken, Linden Museum, Stuttgart, Hirmer Publishers, Germany, 2019, p. 306.

Photo by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore.