Hernán Cortés Meeting Montezuma This engraving from the Durán Codex depicts Montezuma giving Cortés a gift in 1519. The Codex was compiled decades later by Diego Durán (c. 1537–1588), a Dominican friar who was fluent in Nahuatl, the Aztec language. By consulting Indians and Aztec codices as well as work done by earlier friars, Durán offered a relatively positive image of the Aztecs.

Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid, Spain/Bridgeman Images