Mixtec social memory in Late Renaissance Rome: Ulisse Aldrovandi, Tommaso de’ Cavalieri, and “the skull of an Indian king”

Abstract

The article discusses the contents of a series of post-1577 manuscripts in which the Bolognese polymath Ulisse Aldrovandi described the collection of naturalia and artificialia held in Rome by Tommaso de’ Cavalieri. After describing the various Mesoamerican objects in the collection, the article focuses on a mosaic-encrusted skull whose arrival in Italy had previously been described in an Italian source entitled Descrittione dell’India occidentale. Besides drawing from this source, Aldrovandi recorded indigenous names and information about a previously unknown conflict that took place in 1350 CE between the Mixtec kingdoms of Tututepec and Tlaxiaco. According to Aldrovandi’s text, the skull and an associated human femur/musical instrument now in the Museo delle Civiltà (Rome) would be the bodily remains of the king of Tlaxiaco. The case study allows us to reflect on how excerpts of Mixtec historiography and social memory were recorded and reproduced in the intellectual circles of Late Renaissance Rome.

Keywords

• Ulisse Aldrovandi
• Tommaso de’ Cavalieri
• Mesoamerican material culture
• Mixtec history
• history of collections