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Mexico has temporarily welcomed home one of its most significant colonial-era treasures. The Codex Azcatitlan, a 16th-century Aztec pictorial manuscript held by France's national library since 1898, is now on display at Mexico City's National Museum of Anthropology. The loan, agreed by Presidents Claudia Sheinbaum and Emmanuel Macron in November 2025, marks 200 years of Franco-Mexican diplomatic relations and runs through December 6, 2026. The rare codex had not been on Mexican soil for 186 years, having left in 1840.
What is the Codex Azcatitlan?
The Codex Azcatitlan is a hand-painted Mesoamerican manuscript that chronicles the history of the Mexica, the Indigenous people often called Aztecs. Created between the mid-16th and 17th centuries by two tlacuiloque (scribe-painters), it combines traditional Aztec pictograms with European paper, binding, and Latin or Spanish glosses. The work comprises 25 leaves of European paper, each about 21 by 28 centimeters, and is considered one of the most important reference works on Aztec history. The name Azcatitlan comes from the anthill glyph on page 2, which scholar Robert H. Barlow mistakenly read as a reference to the mythical homeland Aztlán.
Why France loaned the Aztec manuscript to Mexico
The temporary return is part of the Great Franco-Mexican Festival, celebrating two centuries of formal diplomatic ties. France's Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF) loaned the codex to Mexico, and in a reciprocal exchange, Mexico sent the 16th-century Codex Boturini to Paris. The Codex Azcatitlan left Mexico around 1840 and passed through several European collections—including those of Lorenzo Boturini, Joseph Marius Alexis Aubin, and Eugène Goupil—before being donated to the BnF after Goupil's death in 1898. The current arrangement is explicitly a loan, not a repatriation. The France-Mexico diplomatic relations milestone provided the political framework, but Mexico has long sought the manuscript's permanent return.
What the codex depicts
The Codex Azcatitlan traces the Mexica migration from Aztlán, the founding of Tenochtitlan in 1325, the succession of its rulers, and the Spanish arrival in 1519, including the conquest and subsequent evangelization. Its three main sections are:
- Migration from Aztlán: the journey of the Mexica toward the Valley of Mexico.
- Founding and dynastic history of Tenochtitlan: the reigns of successive tlatoani (rulers).
- Spanish conquest and evangelization: the 1519–1521 invasion led by Hernán Cortés and the forced conversion to Christianity.
The manuscript's style blends Mesoamerican profile figures and glyphs with European depth and three-dimensional shading. Historian María Castañeda de la Paz attributes the work to an Otomí craftsman. The Spanish conquest of the Aztecs is rendered with vivid colors, making the codex a crucial visual record of Indigenous perspective during the early colonial period.
Will Mexico get the Codex Azcatitlan back permanently?
Mexican officials and Indigenous representatives have framed the loan as a step toward restitution, but France has not agreed to permanent return. President Claudia Sheinbaum pressed President Macron on the issue during 2025 negotiations. Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco called the exhibition a reunification with Mexico's collective memory. Indigenous activist María Eugenia Castañeda, a representative of the Mexica, said: It strengthens our morale, our customs, our culture and our sense of who we are. The display of the codex at the National Museum of Anthropology is part of a broader exhibition that also features 25 archaeological and ethnographic objects and facsimiles of nine manuscripts. For now, the original returns to France after December 6, 2026, leaving the debate over indigenous restitution movements unresolved.
Codex Azcatitlan vs Codex Boturini
| Feature | Codex Azcatitlan | Codex Boturini |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Valley of Mexico, late 16th–17th century | Valley of Mexico, 16th century |
| Content | Migration, dynastic history, conquest | Migration from Aztlán to Tenochtitlan |
| Current holder | Bibliothèque Nationale de France | National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico |
| Loan direction | France to Mexico (until Dec 6, 2026) | Mexico to France (reciprocal) |
| Length | 25 leaves, about 50 folios | Single accordion-fold strip |
FAQ
How long will the Aztec Codex be in Mexico?
The Codex Azcatitlan is on display at Mexico City's National Museum of Anthropology until December 6, 2026, as part of a temporary loan from France.
Why is France returning the Aztec manuscript?
France is lending the codex to celebrate 200 years of Franco-Mexican diplomatic relations, not permanently returning it. Mexico lent the Codex Boturini to Paris in exchange.
What does the Codex Azcatitlan show?
It depicts the Mexica migration from Aztlán, the founding of Tenochtitlan in 1325, the reigns of its rulers, and the Spanish conquest and evangelization from 1519 onward.
Has France agreed to permanent repatriation?
No. Mexican officials, including President Sheinbaum, have pressed for permanent return, but France has so far only agreed to the temporary loan.
Who created the Codex Azcatitlan?
The codex was created by two Indigenous tlacuiloque (scribe-painters), with historian María Castañeda de la Paz attributing the work to an Otomí craftsman.
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