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Secondary sourceSculpture

Statue of Moctezuma II, Royal Palace of Madrid

A sculpture of Moctezuma II on the facade of the Royal Palace of Madrid, commemorating him as a sovereign ruler.

This statue on Spain's royal palace commemorates Moctezuma II as a sovereign, showing how Europe later remembered him.

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White stone statue of a crowned figure standing on a pedestal against a pale building wall. The figure wears a feathered or leafy headdress, a draped cloak over one shoulder, a short pleated skirt with fringed trim, and a beaded necklace and armband. One arm extends outward, the other holds the cloak.
Statue of Moctezuma II, south facade, Royal Palace of Madrid.

About this source

What it is

This white stone statue stands on the south facade of the main floor of the Royal Palace of Madrid. It depicts Moctezuma II, described as sovereign of the Aztec Empire of Mexico, wearing a feathered headdress, a draped cloak, a pleated skirt, and jewelry.

Why it matters

The statue is part of a series of sculptures on the Spanish royal palace commemorating historical rulers. Its presence in Madrid shows how Spain, centuries after the conquest, chose to remember Moctezuma as a legitimate monarch, placing him among other sovereigns on a building associated with Spanish royal power.

Look closer

  • Why might Spain's royal palace include a statue of the ruler its conquistadors defeated?
  • What details in the clothing and posture suggest royal status?
  • What story about Moctezuma does this statue tell, and what does it leave out?

This sculpture is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Montezuma II on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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A painted page from a colonial Mexican manuscript with a blue-green border column of glyphs on the left. Rows of hilltop place-sign glyphs with Nahuatl labels and small pictorial symbols such as a seated figure, a bird, a shield with arrows, and plants, arranged on pale paper with a footer of writing at the bottom.Document

Secondary source

Codex Mendoza, Folio 15v

Unknown author · 16th century

Black-and-white lithograph titled 'Prision de Motezuma' showing Spanish armored soldiers with helmets and halberds on the left facing a group of Aztec-style figures in feathered headdresses on the right, including a central man in a feathered crown and cloak. A large draped canopy and stone columns frame the scene; a shield lies in the lower right. Printed credits read 'J. Serra lit.', 'Lit. Vidal, Olmo 29' and 'Riera, Editor Barcelona'.Painting

Secondary source

Prisión del emperador Moctezuma

Rafael del Castillo de la Cuesta · 1880

Open bound manuscript on a green cloth, showing two pages of handwritten text in columns with small painted illustrations of fish, a shell, a crab, and shrimp. Page headed 'Libro undecimo'.Book

Secondary source

Florentine Codex

Bernardino de Sahagún with Nahua collaborators · 1569

Painting showing Hernán Cortés seizing Moctezuma, a later imagined depiction of the event.Painting

Secondary source

Hernán Cortés takes Moctezuma prisoner

Louis Auguste Turgis · 1895

Woodcut title page of a 1522 Spanish printed letter. A seated, crowned figure holds a scepter in an arched room with checkered floor, flanked by a city scene and a landscape. Below is black-letter Spanish text beginning 'Carta de relación enviada a su S. majestad del emperador nuestro señor por el capitán general de la nueva España, llamado Fernando Cortés', with a handwritten signature at the bottom.Letter

Primary source

Second Letter to Charles V

Hernán Cortés · 1520 (printed 1522)

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