Florentine Codex 1550-1560, Huitzilopochtli (left)

After the conquest of the Aztec Empire in 1521, a few learned Spaniards began to collect pictographic books and sent them back to Europe. There are eight pre-Conquest style codices attributed to the Mixtec-speaking people of Oaxaca. They were made of animal hide and covered with a gesso-like foundation upon which figures were painted and then folded so that they could either be stored compactly or opened to reveal all of the pages on one side. The fact that the Mixtecs painted scenes from codices on drinking goblets is a testament to the role the recitation of the sagas played at royal banquets.

By A.D. 1300, a representational art style had been widely adopted throughout central and southern México that has been termed "Mixteca-Puebla" after the geographical area in which it reached its highest manifestation. The style is exemplified by a series of surviving painted books called codices as well as lavish polychrome pottery and other works of art. The codices were made of animal hide and covered with a gesso-like foundation upon which the figures were painted. They were folded so that they could either be stored compactly or opened to reveal all of the pages of one side.

Differences in content, ritualism, and style among the codices have led to the determination of two separate manuscript groups called the Mixtec Group, and the Borgia Group, named for the most famous work which once belonged to a renowned Italian family.  

Highland México Codices
              Mixtec Group Codices          
                   Codex Bodley
                   Codex Selden
              Borgia Group Codices          
                   Codex Fejervary Mayer
                   Codex Laud
                   Codex Rios

John Pohl's Mesoamerica