The British Museum is assembling rare and precious objects from Europe and South America for an exhibition on the life and mysterious death of the last elected Aztec Emperor, Moctezuma II, who ruled territory stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific. The exhibition, the fourth and last in the museum's series on great world leaders, will run from 24 September to 24 January 2010
Tue 7 Apr 2009 11.26 EDT First published on Tue 7 Apr 2009 11.26 EDT
Mosaic mask of Tezcatlipoboca, skull of the smoking mirror, one of the four powerful Aztec creator deities. Inlaid human skull with real teeth, lined with deer skin on which the movable jaw is hinged. The long deerskin straps would have allowed the mask to be worn during ceremonies.
Illustration from the Codex Tlaxcala, a 16th-century manuscript on European paper but probably made in Central America, showing encounters between the Spanish and Aztec – including images of Moctezuma II as a tiny shackled figure (top right), suggesting he was not a willing hostage.
Illustration from the Codex Tlaxcala, again showing Moctezuma II as a shackled figure: in the top margin of the right hand page there are three small figures, with the name 'Motesuma' written above. The middle Spanish man in the hat appears to be about to attach the chains to Moctezuma, who is on the left.
Double-headed serpent, a sacred image probably worn as a pectoral (a chest ornament) on Aztec ceremonial occasions. Made from turquoise, mother-of-pearl and coral inlay.
Stone box, 1506, with symbolic carvings including a figure identified by name glyphs as Moctezuma. It was possibly owned by Moctezuma and may originally have held a ritual blood-letting implement.
Enconchado 11 by Juan y Miguel Gonzalez, 1698, one of a series of large Spanish paintings inlaid with mother of pearl, showing detailed scenes of the conquest. Here, Moctezuma is being taken on to the balcony of his palace.
Enconchado 11 by Juan y Miguel Gonzalez, 1698, one of a series of large Spanish paintings inlaid with mother of pearl, showing detailed scenes of the conquest. Here, Moctezuma is shown being attacked by his own people with rocks and spears.
