Full Breakdown
Azcatitlan Codex Returns to Mexico on Loan Amid Push for Permanent Repatriation
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event: Loan and Exhibition of the Azcatitlán Codex
A 16th-century Aztec manuscript, the Azcatitlán Codex, has been loaned from France’s Bibliothèque Nationale to Mexico’s National Museum of Anthropology and History. It will be on public display from September 18 to December 6, 2026 as part of the 200th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
Background & Context
The 50-folio illustrated history left Mexico in the 1840s, was donated to the French National Library in 1896, and remained there for more than a century. In November 2025, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to exchange the Azcatitlán Codex for the Boturini Codex, marking a symbolic step in the bicentennial celebrations.
Timeline
- 1840s – Codex removed from Mexico.
- 1896 – Donated to the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
- November 2025 – Bilateral agreement to exchange codices.
- September 18 2026 – Exhibition opens in Mexico City (scheduled).
- December 6 2026 – Exhibition closes (scheduled).
- December 2026 – Boturini Codex to be exhibited in Paris; both codices return to their host countries.
Data & Statistics
- 50 folios (? 25 sheets of parchment).
- Pages depict eight Indigenous groups, including the Matlatzincas and Xochimilcas.
- The gallery shows the original book opened to pages 4-5; the remaining folios are displayed as photographs.
- The exhibition comprises six thematic sections and 25 artifacts.
Official Statements & Responses
Mexico’s foreign minister Roberto Velasco said, “Codices do not belong to institutions; they belong to the people and to the generations who recognize themselves in them.” President Sheinbaum framed the loan as a push for permanent return, while French officials presented it as a commemorative gesture.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
Sources differ on the codex’s production date. *El País* describes it as a late-17th-century work, whereas the BBC characterizes it as drawn in the 16th century, shortly after the Spanish conquest. The precise dating remains unresolved.
Verbatim Quotes
What’s Next
After the Mexican exhibition, the Boturini Codex will be displayed at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. Both codices are slated to return to their host nations in December 2026, concluding the reciprocal loan that marked the bicentennial of Franco-Mexican diplomatic relations.