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Secondary sourcePaintingsecond half of 17th century

The Death of Moctezuma at the Hands of His Own People

Unknown · second half of 17th century

A 17th-century painting imagining Moctezuma appearing before his people while held hostage by Cortés, amid violent unrest.

Depicts Moctezuma's desperate final public appearance as a hostage, trying to calm his own people against Cortés.

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Painting of a battle scene: on the upper walls of a stone structure, Spanish soldiers in helmets and armor stand with shields, and a figure in red robes is among them; below, a dense crowd of Mexica warriors in feathered costumes and red-orange clothing charges forward, with smoke rising from burning buildings at left and banners flying.
Unknown artist, The Death of Moctezuma at the Hands of His Own People, second half of 17th century.

About this source

What it is

This oil painting was made in the second half of the 17th century by an unknown artist, long after the events it shows. It depicts Moctezuma II, held hostage by Hernán Cortés, appearing on the roof of the palace to try to calm his angry people.

Why it matters

The scene shows the final, violent chapter of Moctezuma's rule, when his authority had collapsed under Spanish occupation. Painted generations later, it reflects how colonial-era artists imagined and dramatized the conquest, rather than recording it firsthand.

Look closer

  • Since the artist was not present, what choices did they make to make the scene feel dramatic?
  • How are the Spanish soldiers and the Mexica warriors shown differently?
  • What does this painting suggest about who the artist expected to sympathize with?

This painting 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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