The Friedenstein Palace in Gotha, Germany, holds a Late Postclassic Mesoamerican bird head sculpture made of wood encrusted with precious stone and shell mosaic. Although known since the nineteenth century, scholars have not given the artifact the attention it deserves. Based on observations made during a thorough in situ inspection, we provide a detailed description of the object, stressing both technological and aesthetic aspects, documented through new photos and reconstructive drawings prepared by Nicolas Latsanopoulos. Then, we offer an interpretation of the artifact's iconography, demonstrating it should be understood as a representation of the Wind God in its manifestation as a Tzitzimitl, a category of deities associated with creation and destruction; an aspect made evident in the small figure adorning the avian forehead. We finally reconstruct the collection history of the object, suggesting that the Giustiniani family, a prominent Roman noble family renowned for its collecting activities, once owned the sculpture; in turn, this proposal might imply that the Dominican friar Domingo de Betanzos brought the mosaic to Italy in 1532 and that it might be originally from the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley or, more broadly, from the south-central area of the modern state of Puebla.

德国哥达的 Friedenstein Palace 拥有一个晚期后古典主义中美洲鸟头雕塑，由镶嵌宝石和贝壳马赛克的木头制成。虽然自 19 世纪以来就为人所知，但学者们并没有给予这件神器应有的关注。根据彻底的现场检查中的观察结果，我们提供了对该物体的详细描述，强调技术和美学方面，通过 Nicolas Latsanopoulos 准备的新照片和重建图进行记录。然后，我们对神器的图像进行了解释，表明它应该被理解为风神的代表，其表现形式为 Tzitzimitl，一类与创造和毁灭相关的神灵；一个方面在装饰鸟类前额的小人物中显而易见。我们最终重构了该物件的收藏历史，推测该雕塑曾是罗马著名的收藏家朱斯蒂尼亚尼家族所有；反过来，这个提议可能意味着多米尼加修道士多明戈·德·贝坦佐斯 (Domingo de Betanzos) 于 1532 年将马赛克带到了意大利，并且它可能最初来自普埃布拉-特拉斯卡拉山谷，或者更广泛地说，来自现代普埃布拉州的中南部地区.