The Ex-Stendahl Collection consists of three 16th century colonial Mexican documents: a version of the Lienzo de Tlaxcala, a boundary document, and a genealogy. The collection is named Ex-Stendahl based on the practice of naming documents after their private owner, in this case Alfred Stendahl and the Stendahl Galleries in California. The items were purchased in 1964 by the Huntington Art Gallery at the University of Texas at Austin, and transferred to the Benson Collection in 1993. Detailed narrative descriptions of the documents are available in the reading room.
Some uses of the documents may be limited due to the fragile nature of the media.
Standard copyright restrictions apply.
Cite as: Ex-Stendahl Collection, Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas Libraries, the University of Texas at Austin.
The Ex-Stendahl Collection is classified under the following
The Ex-Stendahl Lienzo de Tlaxcala in an incomplete copy of an original document created in about 1544 or 1545 as a claim to Spain that Tlaxcalans should be exempt from taxes due to the aid they gave Hernando Cortés in conquering the Mexica. The original was painted on a large sheet of cotton cloth and sent to Spain (where it accomplished its purpose). In 1898 it was lent to lithographers to create a reproduction and was never seen again.
The four scenes of the Ex-Stendahl Lienzo de Tlaxcala tell the story of Cortés' arrival and his reception by the Tlaxcalans. Cortés meets with Xicotencatl in the Tecpan at Tlaxcala, and is presented with a number of gifts. The exact date and origin of the document are unknown.
A land claim, likely from between 1580 and 1600. It includes a brief genealogical tree to establish rightful ownership, and then a pictorial description of the lands in question.
Probably formed part of a land claim sometime after 1580. This item, as well as the boundary document, date from the period when pictographic documents were accepted by Mexican courts in land disputes, a period that ended about 1620.