Aztec Interpretations of the Sacred Tilma: A Nahua Iconographical Reading of Our Lady of Guadalupe

This work analyzes epistemological frameworks (inculturation, hybridity, and syncretism) as ways of reading the indigenous iconography behind the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. By conjecturing glyphs through the lens of sixteenth-century central Mexica religious cosmology, I present an “Aztec” worldview of the said image. I employ iconographical and anthropological history to analyze the Image while also underscoring its theological context. In this work, we find that the Image has nuanced iconologies that vary according to specific frameworks. The image of Our Lady is a living, readable text whose Nahua traits are visible in her apparel (mantle, dress, broach), surroundings (clouds, angel’s feathers, moon), and appearance (hair and countenance).