Dona Marina in Florentine Codex

This image was created by an indigenous painter in central Mexico and accompanies a written description of the conquest of Tenochtitlan, penned in both Spanish and Nahuatl in the Florentine Codex. The Florentine Codex is one of the fullest Nahuatl descriptions of the conquest. The scene shows Malintzin in the act of translating. She sits upon a palace roof with Cortés. Her pointed finger and the small scrolls represent the act of speaking, and hint at her bravery.

This source is a part of the Doña Marina, Cortés' Translator teaching module.