week 9
Feathered headdress, Aztec, reproduction (National Anthropology Museum, Mexico City). Original: early 16th century, quetzal, cotinga, roseate spoonbill, piaya feathers, wood, fibers, amate paper, cotton, gold, and gilded brass, Aztec, Mexico, (World Museum, Vienna) The headdress is also known as the Penacho of Moctezuma II. We believe that is was an object sent from Mesoamerica to Europe by Hernan Cortes, but it is unknown if the headdress itself belonged to Moctezuma II. In the late nineteenth century, Austria established its first museum of natural history. The headdress a was found in Ambras Castle, and now it has been displayed in the ethnology museum in Vienna. The headdress has become an important touchstone for Mexican national and indigenous people, and many Mexicans believe that it should be returned. Representatives of Mexico have made continuous requests for the headdress the be returned, but denied due to it being risky to send a fragile o...