Visual Culture of Early Modern Contact and the Spanish Empire

Vocabulary flashcards covering early modern visual depictions of European exploration, indigenous American life, colonial religious art, and the transatlantic Spanish empire.

Giuliano Dati's Lettera dell'isole che ha trovato nuevamente il Re di Spagna

A 1493 publication from Florence recounting the initial voyages and islands encountered on behalf of the King of Spain.

De insulis inventis

A 1495 illustrated Latin edition published in Florence documenting Christopher Columbus's encounters in the Americas.

Hamaca

An indigenous woven hanging bed described in Fernández de Oviedo's 1535 Natural History of the West Indies, made of open cotton mesh and suspended between trees or wooden posts.

Hicos

The indigenous word for the ropes made of cotton or cabuya used to secure a hammock (hamaca) to trees or posts.

Yayama, Boniama, and Yayagua

Three distinct varieties of pineapple (piña) documented by Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo in his 1535 Natural History of the West Indies.

Pearl Ship Pin

A 16th-century ornament fashioned from gold wire rigging and a baroque pearl ship hull, housed in the Museum of London.

Brevissima relacion de la destruycion de las Indias

A 1552 Seville publication by the Dominican friar and bishop Bartolomé de las Casas denouncing atrocities committed against indigenous populations.

The town of Secoton (John White)

A watercolour made between 1585 and 1593 illustrating an open Carolina Algonquian village layout, its residences, communal feast spaces, and three stages of maize crops.

The town of Secoton (Theodore de Bry)

A 1590 engraving based on John White's watercolour, documenting Algonquian agriculture, rituals, and the cultivation of tobacco.

Vppowoc

The indigenous term for tobacco recorded in Theodore de Bry's 1590 commentary on the town of Secoton.

Spanish Fury at Antwerp

A 1576 historical event and print depicting the violent sack of the city of Antwerp in the Low Countries by mutinous Spanish troops.

The Massacre of Vessy (1562)

A 1562 print depicting Catholic violence against French Protestant Huguenots worshiping inside a barn.

Burning at the Stake with a Catholic Priest

A 1598 engraving by Theodore de Bay for Bartolomé de las Casas's accounts showing the execution of an indigenous leader while a priest offers a crucifix.

Mass of St. Gregory (Diego Huanutzin)

A 1539 feather mosaic created in Mexico City for Diego Huanutzin, ruler of Tenochtitlan, intended as a diplomatic gift for Pope Paul III.

Amanteca

Indigenous Nahua feather mosaic artists who crafted luxury and devotional featherworks such as the 16th-century Bishop's Miter with Scenes of Christ's Passion.

Auto de Fe en Plaza Mayor, Madrid

A 1683 painting by Francisco Rizi showing a grand public sentencing ceremony organized by the Spanish Inquisition before King Carlos II.

View of the Plaza Mayor (Zócalo) of Mexico City

A circa 1695 painting by Cristóbal de Villalpando depicting the central civic and commercial plaza of New Spain with the cathedral, viceregal palace, and Parián market.

Biombo with the Conquest of Mexico and View of Mexico City

A late 17th-century New Spanish folding screen juxtaposing the armed siege of Tenochtitlan with an urban aerial view of viceregal Mexico City.

Miracle of a Black Leg

A circa 1370-75 painting by Matteo di Pacino depicting Saints Cosmas and Damian replacing a patient's diseased limb with the leg of a deceased Ethiopian man.

Saint Benedict of Palermo (Juan Pascual de Mena)

A 1770-1780 Spanish polychrome wood statue representing Saint Benedict the Moor, the Sicilian Franciscan of African descent.

Saint Benedict of Palermo (José Montes de Oca)

A circa 1734 sculpture made of polychrome and gilt wood with glass depicting the Franciscan friar known as the Black Saint.

The Virgin of Potosí

A circa 1700 painting by an anonymous Cusco artist synchronizing the figure of the Virgin Mary with the rich silver-producing mountain Cerro Rico of Potosí.

Virgin of Guadalupe (Marcos Cipac de Aquino)

A circa 1556 Marian painting attributed to the indigenous artist Marcos Cipac de Aquino, foundational to the Tepeyac apparition cult in New Spain.

Legend of the Virgin of Guadalupe appearing to Juan Diego

A 1665 painting by Jose Juarez illustrating the narrative sequence of the Virgin Mary's apparitions to Juan Diego and the miraculous imprinting on his tilma.