Only in Vienna by Duncan J.D. Smith

93 37 1 st District Montezuma’s Headdress? 1 st District (Innere Stadt), the WeltmuseumWien in the Neue Burg on Heldenplatz; take U-5 to Museumsquartier (from 2024 onwards) Amongst the Eskimo anoraks, Easter Island canoe paddles and Shinto toilet deities of the Weltmuseum Wien on Heldenplatz is a single exhibit both curious and controversial. Beautifully lit in a case all its own is an Aztec headdress. It is made from 459 shimmering blue and green tail feathers of the male Quetzal bird. This is the world’s only surviving feather headdress from pre-Hispanic Mexico and one of only six remaining examples of ancient Mexican feather work. Representa- tions of Aztec deities suggest that such headdresses were considered part of the garments of the gods, and were worn by priests during temple rituals. Around the turn of the 20 th century, the so-called Vienna head­ dress was bundled together with other suitably exotic-looking objects, and quite incorrectly exhibited as 'Montezuma’s Treasures' (see no. 39). Until quite recently guidebooks were still linking these A magnificent Aztec feather headdress in the Weltmuseum