The British Museum unmasks Aztec ruler Moctezuma II

Mosaic mask of Tezcatlipoboca, skull of the smoking mirror, one of the four powerful Aztec creator deities. Inlaid human skull with real teeth, lined with deer skin on which the movable jaw is hinged. The long deerskin straps would have allowed the mask to be worn during ceremonies. Photograph: Trustees of the British Museum

Illustration from the Codex Tlaxcala, a 16th-century manuscript on European paper but probably made in Central America, showing encounters between the Spanish and Aztec – including images of Moctezuma II as a tiny shackled figure (top right), suggesting he was not a willing hostage. Photograph: Glasgow University

Illustration from the Codex Tlaxcala, again showing Moctezuma II as a shackled figure: in the top margin of the right hand page there are three small figures, with the name 'Motesuma' written above. The middle Spanish man in the hat appears to be about to attach the chains to Moctezuma, who is on the left. Photograph: Glasgow University

Aztec period gold nose ornament, for ritual and ceremonial wear. Photograph: Anthropology Collection, Mexico

Double-headed serpent, a sacred image probably worn as a pectoral (a chest ornament) on Aztec ceremonial occasions. Made from turquoise, mother-of-pearl and coral inlay. Photograph: The Trustees of the British Museum

Rare turquoise mosaic mask with mother-of-pearl eyes, c1400-1521. Photograph: Trustees of the British Museum

This gold turtle necklace was royal jewellery from Moctezuma's reign. Photograph: Dumbarton Oaks, Pre-Columbian Collection, Washington, DC

Stone box, 1506, with symbolic carvings including a figure identified by name glyphs as Moctezuma. It was possibly owned by Moctezuma and may originally have held a ritual blood-letting implement. Photograph: Hamburg Museum für Völkerkunde

Enconchado 11 by Juan y Miguel Gonzalez, 1698, one of a series of large Spanish paintings inlaid with mother of pearl, showing detailed scenes of the conquest. Here, Moctezuma is being taken on to the balcony of his palace. Photograph: Museo de América, Madrid

Enconchado 11 by Juan y Miguel Gonzalez, 1698, one of a series of large Spanish paintings inlaid with mother of pearl, showing detailed scenes of the conquest. Here, Moctezuma is shown being attacked by his own people with rocks and spears. Photograph: Museo de América, Madrid