The Imperial Troops Bringing Civilization to the Indians, from The Victories of Emperor Charles, plate 6
This engraving depicting the conquest of the New World is one of the earliest printed images of the Americas. It belongs to a series of twelve prints celebrating the Habsburg Emperor Charles V’s military victories around the world, and is dedicated to Charles’s son and the future king of Spain and Portugal, Philip II. The print portrays cannibalistic activities in the left foreground and a battle scene with European ships at a harbor in the background. The Latin inscription explains that the emperor sought to bring "civilization" to the natives. The indigenous peoples’ nudity and cannibalism both derive from a visual tradition established in the early sixteenth century and based on the writings of the first explorers.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Imperial Troops Bringing Civilization to the Indians, from The Victories of Emperor Charles, plate 6
- Series/Portfolio: The Victories of Emperor Charles
- Artist: Dirck Volckertsz Coornhert (Netherlandish, Amsterdam 1519/22–1590 Gouda)
- Artist: After Maarten van Heemskerck (Netherlandish, Heemskerck 1498–1574 Haarlem)
- Publisher: Hieronymus Cock (Netherlandish, Antwerp ca. 1510–1570 Antwerp)
- Date: 1555
- Medium: Engraving and etching; third state of six (New Hollstein)
- Dimensions: Sheet: 6 15/16 × 9 1/16 in. (17.6 × 23 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949
- Object Number: 49.95.2387(6)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Dirck Volckertsz Coornhert
ca. 1560
Dirck Volckertsz Coornhert
ca. 1560
Dirck Volckertsz Coornhert
Maarten van Heemskerck
1551
Dirck Volckertsz Coornhert
Maarten van Heemskerck
1551
Dirck Volckertsz Coornhert
Maarten van Heemskerck
1551
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