Overview
- The Azcatitlan Codex went on public display at Mexico City’s National Museum of Anthropology and History on Thursday and will remain on exhibit through December under a temporary loan from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
- Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History says the pictorial manuscript narrates the Mexica migration from Aztlán, the founding of Tenochtitlan, the succession of tlatoani and the arrival of the Spanish and evangelization.
- Historical records show the codex left Mexico in the 19th century and entered French custody after being donated to the Bibliothèque Nationale in the late 1890s, and the loan was arranged after a November 2025 agreement between presidents Claudia Sheinbaum and Emmanuel Macron.
- Scholars and officials note unresolved issues about the manuscript’s date and condition, with reports variously describing it as 16th century or late 17th century and pointing out that some folios are missing and others are displayed only as reproductions.
- Indigenous representatives and Mexican officials say the exhibition reconnects communities with a shared visual history, Mexico is not seeking permanent repatriation at this time, and the reciprocal display of the Boturini Codex in Paris could deepen cultural ties while keeping restitution debates alive.