In this new piece of concept art, we want to show the facade of the palace of Moctezuma II, an architectural complex that the Tlatoani ordered to be built as a residence and seat of government of the city of Tenochtitlan, thus replacing the old palace of Axayacatl and thereby giving life to a glorious government that would end abruptly after the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores to Mesoamerica.
The chroniclers of the time, such as Bernal Díaz del Castillo's, described in detail the palace of Moctezuma II. In the words of Hernán Cortés:
He had his lodgings within the city, such and so wonderful, that it seemed almost impossible to tell the goodness and greatness of them. Therefore, I won’t be able to express something about them, more than that in Spain there is no one similar.
Given that the archaeological evidence is scarce since the Moctezuma palace lies buried in the metropolitan area of Mexico City and that the descriptions of Fray Bernardino de Sahagún would be written several years after the destruction of Tenochtitlan, we took some artistic liberties, supported by Mexica architectural remains of the time, and speculation of how the great palace of Moctezuma II could have been.
What do you think of this WIP?
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