A 16th-century manuscript chronicling the Aztec civilisation and its fall after the Spanish conquest has gone on display in Mexico for the first time in 186 years, under a loan from France that stops short of the permanent return sought by Mexican authorities.
The Codex Azcatitlán is being exhibited at the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City from Thursday until December 31. France lent the manuscript to mark 200 years of Franco-Mexican relations. Mexico has agreed in return to send the Codex Boturini to France for display.
The exchange was agreed by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and French President Emmanuel Macron during Macron's visit to Mexico last year. Sheinbaum requested the return of the Códice Azcatitlán from Macron in November. She also sought the return of the Códice Borbónico, which is held by the French National Assembly.
Mexico has called for France to return the Codex Azcatitlán for years. France has declined to permanently repatriate the manuscript, saying legal reasons prevent it from doing so. The present arrangement is a temporary loan rather than the restoration of national heritage sought by Mexico.
The codex is considered one of the most important accounts of Aztec culture. It is thought to have been drawn in the 16th Century and sets out the history of the Aztec civilisation in pictograms, from the creation of the Aztec Empire to its collapse during the Spanish conquest.
The manuscript consists of 25 sheets of parchment imported from Europe in the 16th century. It has been held by France's Bibliothèque Nationale since 1898.
The manuscript entered the French National Library after the widow of the Franco-Mexican collector Eugene Goupil donated his collection in 1898. The donation was subject to a condition that the collection remain intact in that public institution, according to France's stated legal position.
The Codex Boturini, which Mexico will lend to France, recounts an earlier part of the Aztec story. Its pictograms describe the movement of the Aztecs, also known as Mexica, from their ancestral homeland to the shores of Lake Texcoco, where they built Tenochtitlán.
The loan comes amid Mexico's broader effort to recover cultural objects from abroad. Mexico's ministry of foreign relations said more than 2,000 objects were successfully repatriated last year. Mexico has secured more than 16,000 pieces since 2018, according to the context provided for the exchange.
The arrangement gives Mexican audiences access to a manuscript long held in France. It leaves unresolved the Mexican government's campaign for its permanent return, along with its request for the Códice Borbónico.
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