The Azcatitlan Codex, a centuries-old manuscript chronicling the history and migration of the Mexica people, has returned to Mexico for the first time in almost 200 years as part of a landmark cultural exchange between Mexico and France.
The late 16th- to early 17th-century manuscript is now on display at Mexico City’s National Museum of Anthropology (MNA), where it will remain until 6 December 2026.
Its return forms part of commemorations marking 200 years of diplomatic relations between Mexico and France and is a centrepiece of the “Grand Franco-Mexican Celebration”, a binational cultural programme comprising nearly 200 events.
Historic manuscript returns home
Produced in the Valley of Mexico and comprising 20 folios, the Azcatitlan Codex combines traditional Mesoamerican pictography with elements of European writing.
The manuscript recounts the Mexica migration from the legendary Aztlan to the foundation of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. It also documents the city’s rulers, or tlatoque, significant events during their reigns, and the subsequent arrival of the Spanish, conquest and evangelisation.
The codex left Mexico in 1840 and is held by the National Library of France. Its temporary return was made possible through collaboration between Mexico’s Ministry of Culture and National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), and France’s Ministry of Culture and National Library of France.
As part of the reciprocal agreement, Mexico’s Boturini Codex has travelled to Paris, where it will be exhibited at the National Library of France.
The exchange was agreed by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and French President Emmanuel Macron in November 2025 as part of the bicentenary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Mexican Culture Secretary Claudia Curiel de Icaza said efforts to bring the manuscript back had been spearheaded by the Hñähñu community of Ixmiquilpan, Hidalgo.
She said the initiative underscored the continuing connection between Indigenous communities and their history, memory and cultural heritage.
Cultural diplomacy between Mexico and France
Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco Álvarez described the exhibition as an act of trust between the two countries and called for the cultural partnership to extend to joint research, open-access digitisation, specialist training and exchanges between conservators.
“Memory does not belong only to the institutions that safeguard the objects, but to the people and the generations that recognise themselves in them,” he said.
Velasco also highlighted the importance of cultural diplomacy, arguing that relations between nations extend beyond governments and should enable their societies to better understand one another.
French Ambassador to Mexico Delphine Borione said the simultaneous exhibitions offered Mexican, French and international visitors an opportunity to discover more about the richness and diversity of Mexican history.
Mexico’s ambassador to France, Blanca Jiménez Cisneros, meanwhile highlighted the work of academics, archaeologists, conservators, museum professionals, customs officials and other specialists involved in making the exchange possible.
Jean-Charles Bédague, director of collections at the National Library of France, said the institution holds an exceptional collection of Mexican manuscripts studied by researchers from both countries.
He described the exchange as a tangible demonstration of friendship across the Atlantic, allowing two major historical works to reach new audiences and potentially generate fresh research and perspectives.
Six themes tell the story of Mexico’s codices
Curated by ethnohistorian Baltazar Brito Guadarrama, head of Mexico’s National Library of Anthropology and History, the exhibition places the Azcatitlan Codex within the wider history of manuscript production and Indigenous historical traditions.
Brito described the codex as particularly significant to Mexicans while also belonging to a broader historiographical tradition in which peoples record and preserve their own histories.
The exhibition is organised around six themes: pre-Hispanic codices, viceregal-era cultural survival, the origins and collection of manuscripts, the Azcatitlan Codex itself, founding myths and migrations, and contemporary discoveries and research.
Alongside the manuscript are 25 archaeological and ethnographic objects illustrating how codices were produced and how these traditions survived over time.
The exhibition also includes facsimiles of nine pre-Hispanic and colonial-era manuscripts. Among them are the Bodley Codex, which records the exploits of the Mixtec ruler Eight Deer Jaguar Claw; the Boturini Codex, chronicling the legendary Mexica migration from Aztlan; the De la Cruz-Badiano Codex, regarded as the first herbal treatise produced in the Americas; and the Mendoza Codex, documenting Mexica history, customs and tribute systems.
Other objects include stone implements used in papermaking, a codex-style vessel, Late Postclassic projectile points associated with the Mexica, an anthropomorphic pectoral from the Mezcala tradition, gourds containing natural dyes and a textile representing Hñähñu cultural traditions.
The exhibition, “The Azcatitlan Codex: Mexico-France, 200 Years of Friendship”, is being held in the Temporary Exhibition Hall of the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.
Sources : INAH