Focusing on the Prehispanic Panel of this artwork, analyze the Mixtec codices about the Codices.
Mixtec codices The existing Mixtec prehispanic codices, either six or eight in number, and their Mayan counterparts are the only historical and genealogical documents that survived the Spanish conquest. Other codices created after the conquest were made with Spanish influence as was the case with the so-called Aztec codices. Codices helped hereditary rulers establish their right to govern from one generation to another. The codices also demonstrated that the gods played a role in the birth of rulers, thereby establishing their connection to the gods and the divine right to rule.García Bustos, true to his pursuit of realism in his creations, used several images from the Mixtec codices. The stories portrayed in the codices are largely mythical. Myths, although they are not literal truths, reflect the way that people think and in Mesoamérica are used in many places, including art, architecture, poetry, and religion.
The image below, from the mural, is an example of García Bustos placing content from a codex in his mural. This image is almost an exact reproduction of a panel from page 13 of the Vienna Codex. An article by Jansen and Pérez Jiménez interprets this image as one of several related to the foundation and ritual carried out in the east palace of heaven.
At the bottom left of the figure above there is a capital letter A, joined with a stylized circle around the middle. Normally this A-O symbol is attached to one of four symbols, thus forming a year sign used in the 52 year-cycle Mixtec calendar. Since this symbol does not include one of the four additional symbols, the explanation from a reputable research site is that the capital letter A symbol with an O in the middle is a symbol for the beginning of time. Similar images with large "As" appear on the three panels of the mural.
Mixtec Aztec codices Mayan mural left