Note 17 — Chapter I · INTRODUCTORY

Payne in his History of the New World called America, vol. i, 1892, pp. 424 ff., was the first to indicate the “fetishtic” nature of this statue, which he identifies as that of Chicomecoatl. He pours the vials of scorn upon “the Italian dilettante Boturini” for his identification of the block as Uitzilopochtli-Teoyaomiqui. He further states that it “has no limbs,” but its large, scaly dragon-legs are at least as obvious as his lack of success in giving the sculpture its proper name. ↑