In West-Indien.

  • Translation

Article ID AMW1300

Title

In West-Indien.

Description

View shows the arrival of the Spaniards on a Caribbean island and the customs of the locals.

Year

ca. 1618

Artist

Bry, de (1528-1598)

Theodorus de Bry (1528-1598) Frankfurt a.M. Around 1570, Theodorus de Bry, a Protestant, fled religious persecution south to Strasbourg, along the west bank of the Rhine. In 1577, he moved to Antwerp in the Duchy of Brabant, which was part of the Spanish Netherlands or Southern Netherlands and Low Countries of that time (16th Century), where he further developed and used his skills as a copper engraver. Between 1585 and 1588 he lived in London, where he met the geographer Richard Hakluyt and began to collect stories and illustrations of various European explorations, most notably from Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues. Depiction of Spanish atrocities in the New World, as recounted by Bartolome de las Casas in Narratio Regionum indicarum per Hispanos Quosdam devastatarum verissima. In 1588, Theodorus and his family moved permanently to Frankfurt-am-Main, where he became citizen and began to plan his first publications. The most famous one is known as Les Grands Voyages, i.e., The Great Travels, or The Discovery of America. He also published the largely identical India Orientalis-series, as well as many other illustrated works on a wide range of subjects. His books were published in Latin, and were also translated into German, English and French to reach a wider reading public. The two collections of travelogues published by Theodor de Bry in Frankfurt are among the most important of the early modern period and established his reputation for posterity: He created The Arrival of Columbus in the New World in 1594. The West Indian Voyages (ed. 1590-1618) chronicled the discovery and conquest of the Americas by Europeans, while the East Indian Voyages followed the rise of Holland as a trading power in Asia around 1600. Both series appeared in German and Latin, were intended for a European audience, and were richly illustrated with copper engravings. Theodor de Bry was only able to publish six parts of his complete works. After his death, his sons Johann Theodor and Johann Israel and then Johann Theodor's son-in-law Matthäus Merian continued the work until 1634. In the end, it contained 25 parts and over 1500 copper engravings. The brothers were succeeded as engravers and publishers by Sebastian Furck.

Historical Description

The Caribbean is named after the Caribs people, which the Spanish conquerors found in the Lesser Antilles (lat. Ante ilium, "offshore islands"). It was also called the West Indies because it was believed to have been discovered by sea directly to India. Before the discoveries in the 1st millennium BC Arawak Indians came from Venezuela to the Caribbean Islands. They spread northwards through Trinidad. They were followed around 1500 years later by the warlike Caribs, which the Arawak slowly pushed away from the Lesser Antilles. At the time of Christopher Columbus' voyages of discovery, the Arawak inhabited the islands of Cuba, Hispaniola and the Bahamas, while the Caribs lived in the Lesser Antilles. When Columbus landed in San Salvador (Bahamas) on behalf of the Spanish crown in 1492, he was primarily looking for gold and other riches. But the Arawak did not care what Europeans saw as wealth. So the Caribbean was settled, but the conquistadors soon moved to the American continent. Gradually, English, Dutch and French settled. Even Denmark, Sweden and Courland were owned by some colonies. St. Barthélemy was for excample. almost a century under Swedish rule. Many of the native Indians eventually fell victim to introduced diseases or slavery. The Caribbean was particularly active in the 17th and early 18th centuries for Buccaneers and Pirates (so-called Golden Age of Piracy). The small islands offered the pirates, some of whom were privateers commissioned by a king, numerous shelters, and the Spanish treasure fleets were a good and worthwhile target. Port Royal in Jamaica and the French settlement on Tortuga were real pirate settlements.

Place of Publication Frankfurt on Main
Dimensions (cm)26,5 x 17,5 cm
ConditionMargins mounted
Coloringoriginal colored
TechniqueCopper print

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