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13. Theodor de Bry (1528-1598) and Jan Theodor de Bry (1561-1623) Punishment of the Mutinous Indians by the Spaniards
Etching and engraving, ca. 1590, from Voyages to the West Indies, 180 x 220 mm., Hollstein 363, Wurzbach 21. Fine impression on laid paper, from an edition without text on the page, with full margins, binding holes at the left. The pictorial documentation of history is itself a plentiful source for disturbing images and the Spanish exploration, and exploitation, of the New World is a prime example. Yes, there are amazing scenes, strange lands, strange animals, exotic mores and practices, but there is also man’s age-old inhumanity to man. In this image, it is the Spanish general, Didacus Ocampo who orders the punishment of the rebellious inhabitants of the island of Cumana, hanging as many of the natives as his men could capture. The Cumana referred to may have been an island off the coast of Venezuela or even the mainland of that country. As opposed to what is generally offered on the web of these images, this is not a giclée reproduction but the original print. |
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