BBC World Histories Magazine - 03.2020

Æ
AL

AM

Y/B

RI

DG

EM

AN

/^ M

EA

D^ A

RC

HI

VE

S^ –

LI

BR

AR

Y^ O

F^ C

ON

GR

ES

S

Æ

Mixed media

The Mass of St Gregory,

an artwork of 1539

created in Mexico City.

Melding traditional

indigenous and

European techniques, it

incorporates iridescent

feathers (a common

material in Aztec art)

and gold sheet

Aztec epidemic People of Tenochtitlán stricken by smallpox, in a

16th-century picture. Diseases carried to the Americas from Europe

ravaged indigenous populations following the Spanish conquest

To defeat drought Aztecs make a ritual offering of birds to avert

drought – a common and serious threat – depicted in an illustration from

the 16th-century Tovar Codex