The Imperial Troops Bringing Civilization to the Indians, from The Victories of Emperor Charles, plate 6

Dirck Volckertsz Coornhert|Maarten van Heemskerck|Hieronymus Cock

1555 · Engraving and etching; third state of six (New Hollstein) · Drawings and Prints

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.

Artist

Dirck Volckertsz Coornhert|Maarten van Heemskerck|Hieronymus Cock

Date

1555

Medium

Engraving and etching; third state of six (New Hollstein)

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949