Hierbas medicinales y semiosis colonial: Ilustraciones indígenas en dos manuscritos novohispanos sobre la naturaleza americana del siglo XVI

Abstract

This article proposes a new read of the herbal put together by “Doctor” Martinde la Cruz, translated into Latin in 1552 by Juan Badiano, and the “medicaltreaty” which is part of Bernardino de Sahagun’s Florentine Codex (1577) basedon the notion of colonial semiosis. The combination of images and texts in theseartifacts and the direct participation of wisemen of Nahutl origin allow theconsideration of visual representations of medicinal herbs as statements thatretain certain autonomy, despite being included within the genres of Europeanrepresentation. This peculiarity strains the alleged subordination of visual signifiers to the imperative of alphabetical writing, making it possible toassess the presence of heterogeneous representations within the context ofMesoamerican literacy in the sixteenth century.