User:DrNapa/Moctezuma's headdress

Description - Nathan

A headdress made of quetzal feathers, popularly referred to as Montezuma II's crown.

Penacho - this is another word/name for the headdress that we can define

There is no known evidence that proves the headdress belonged to Moctezuma II. It is recognized to have been a symbol of political and religious power in ancient Mexico and similar headdresses appear in Aztec monuments as part of the his ritual paraphernalia. This one is made primarily of Quetzal and blue cotinga feathers. (a lot more for me to add to this section)

FROM LIVE SPACE:

The feathers of the piece have deteriorated over the centuries. It is 116 cm (46 in) high and 175 cm (69 in) across and has the form of concentric layers of different colored feathers arranged in a semicircle. The smallest is made from blue feathers of the Cotinga amabilis (xiuhtōtōtl) with small plates of gold in the shapes of half moons. Behind this is a layer of Roseate spoonbill (tlāuhquechōlli) feathers, then small quetzal feathers, then a layer of white-tipped red-brown feathers of the squirrel cuckoo, Piaya cayana, with three bands of small gold plates, and finally two of 400 closely spaced quetzal tail feathers, some 55 cm (22 in) long. The quetzal feathers in the center of the headdress are raised relative to the sides. Leather straps attach the crown to the head of the wearer.

Function - Carys

[edit] History Section

Although attributed to Moctezuma II and the Spanish conquest, the provenance of the piece is unattested, and it does not match Aztec illustrations of the headdress of their nobility. It's been argued that the headdress derived its name from the traditional story of the meeting between Motecuhzoma and Hernán Cortés where he presumably gave the Conquistador diplomatic gifts of headdresses, gold and silver, and clothes to please Emperor Charles V. In her paper, The Contested Crown: Repatriation Politics between Europe and Mexico, Khadija von Zinnenburg Carroll discusses the fact that there were many Motecuhzomas throughout history who never wore the same crown twice, and so if there is only one crown left in existence, there is a very slim chance of actually knowing who it belonged to.

It was been argued that this kind of feather headdress was probably used as a military insignia instead of a crown. The headdress, made of feathers, gold, wood, and vegetable fibers, would have been placed on a bamboo stick and positioned on a distinguished soldier’s back. Art historian and Columbia Professor Esther Pasztory has suggested that there is evidence that headdresses, such as this piece, were part of the Aztec royalty for ritualistic purposes, especially to be worn when impersonating the god Quetzalcoatl.

The headdress became an object of interest to European researchers such as Ferdinand von Hochstetter and Eduard Seler at the end of the 19th century, and its identification as a quetzalapanecayotl (a quetzal bird feather head device) is attributed to American anthropologist Zelia Nuttall and her research paper "Standard or Head-dress?". Nuttall attests that the objects represents a quetzal bird with its wings extended, tail pointing upwards, and head pointing downwards. Esther Pasztory has claimed that a model of a crown used by Motecuhzoma was depicted in the Codex Mendoza, a traditional Aztec manuscript. It was restored in 1878, while still thought to be a mantle rather than a headdress. It was placed in the collections of Archduke Ferdinand in Ambras Castle near Innsbruck, Austria in 1575. At the beginning of the 19th century it was deposited in the Museum of Ethnology (inventory number 10402VO) in Vienna along with other ceremonial artifacts of Quetzalcoatl and Ehecatl.

Although artifact exchanges and restitution of the headdress were negotiated with the Mexican government, a bilateral expert commission deemed the artifact too fragile for transport due to it's significant reaction to heat and movement, and thus recommended its remaining in Vienna. In 2020, the Mexican government asked again for the restitution of the headdress, however it still resides in Vienna today.

The Contested Crown

- Spanish colonists had harsh ban on feather headdresses - Nelly M. Robles Garcia believes was motivates by fear of indigenous symbol

- There were multiple Motecuhzomas, never wore the same crown twice, if there is one crown left, which one did it belong to?

- Bugs ate away at the crown

- Shouldn't move the crown because it is so sensitive it responds to the heat of museum guests

Danza de los Quetzales - Nathan

The Danza de los Quetzales was an ancient dance that originated from the legend of the quetzal, a mythological bird of Mesoamerica that was then considered by the Indians to be sacred and symbolic of the essence of beauty and elegance. Moctezuma's headdress is told to have been formed from twenty four feathers captured at great peril from the long tails of the quetzals. In the city of Puebla, located in central Mexico during the time of the Aztec Empire, performers trained for many months to personify the bird and illustrate the dignity, godliness, and grace that the Indians attribute to it. There exists an idea that this was the home town of Moctemuza's headdress. It is not impossible, as the Aztech Empire exerted significant influence over the broader central Mexican region, including Puebla.

Repatriate dispute between Mexico and Austria - Augusto

"Moctezuma II’s headdress was first mentioned in a European inventory in 1596, when it was acquired by Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria. It was listed there as a “Moorish hat." It was likely an object sent from Mesoamerica to Europe by Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, but it is unknown whether it actually belonged to Moctezuma II himself. In the late nineteenth century, Austria established its first Museum of Natural History, with geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter as its director. While searching for objects to display in the new museum, von Hochstetter found the headdress in Ambras Castle, Archduke Ferdinand’s former residence in Innsbruck, Austria. Since then, the headdress has been displayed in the ethnology museum in Vienna (now called the Weltmuseum Wien)." - *find actual citation for this info

file:///Users/caryscorrenti/Downloads/The_Inbetweenness_of_the_Vitrine_Three_p.pdf - this paper could be helpful

"When the brother of Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, married, he received the Headdress of Moctezuma II. In time, the art collections of the Habsburg Monarchy were placed in state museums, and now the famous headdress is housed in the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna, together with a feathered fan and the Ahuitzotl Shield, also known as a "Chīmalli". There is a replica of the headdress in the National Museum of Anthropology of Mexico City." - there's a picture of the replica in the paper

Weltmuseum Wein - why do they have it to begin with?

"In 2010, Mexico and Austria began a research project to evaluate the headdress's condition and the possibility of loaning it to Mexico. The project included cleaning the headdress and studying how to control vibrations that might damage it during transport. The project concluded that the headdress is too fragile to transport."

Couldn't be transported because it was deemed too fragile - no zero-vibration technology yet

Who Was Moctezuma?

Do we want to add any more details or not because he has his own wikipedia page?

Moctezuma's Head Injury

We could maybe talk about his head injury and how that maybe relates to people thinking this object was his headdress.

"Both Spanish and Indian sources of the time documented that Moctezuma received a severe head injury from a sling shot from those of his own people whom he was addressing in his attempt to persuade them to cease hostilities against Cortés and his Spanish soldiers and Indian allies. However, after the conquest, some of the information that Spanish friars collected from Indian stories, songs, and pictorial representations raised the possibility that Moctezuma died of strangulation or stabbing at the hands of the Spaniards. There is even a suggestion of suicide. This issue remains unresolved and emotionally charged."

Aztec Symbols/Clothing

If we could find some more info about traditional Aztec clothes/symbols/headdress I think that would be good to add