In West-Indien.

  • Translation

Article ID AMZ1278

Title

In West-Indien.

Description

View shows a battle between Nicaraguan natives against the Spaniards.

Year

ca. 1595

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

On his fourth voyage, Christopher Columbus landed in July 1502 on the island of Guanaja, which belongs to the Honduran Islas de la Bahía. From the mouth of the Río Coco, the Cabo Gracias a Dios, he followed the coast of Nicaragua and anchored at the mouth of the Río San Juan to withstand heavy storms. From Panama, the conquistador Pedrarias Dávila undertook raids in 1519 to Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Although the immediate booty was relatively high, it became clear in the course of the conquest that in the long run the source of wealth lay in people. In the 1520s the area was colonized by Spain to start the encomienda. The first Spanish colonial cities were founded in Nicaragua near the Pacific coast. In 1539, Diego Machuca discovered the Río San Juan as a waterway between the Caribbean and Lake Nicaragua. In 1551, the Spanish chronicler Francisco López de Gómara said: “You only have to make a firm decision to make the passage and it can be carried out. As soon as there is no lack of will, there will also be no lack of funds ”. But the Spanish King Felipe II saw God's creation in the land bridge between the two seas, which man is not entitled to improve. Therefore the plan for an interoceanic Nicaragua Canal has not been pursued for the time being. For a long time, Spanish colonial rule was limited to the Pacific coast and its hinterland on Lake Nicaragua and the smaller Lake Managua. The Caribbean coast (Miskito coast), which was separated from the rest of the country by mountainous and impassable regions and was inhabited by the Miskito indigenous, came under the influence of Great Britain for a long time from Jamaica with the territory of today's Belize. In 1821, the General Capitanate of Guatemala, to which Nicaragua belonged, proclaimed its independence from the Spanish crown. The Jacobin cap of the French Revolution still adorns his flag over the five volcanoes of the country. Two years later, it became the United Provinces of Central America, from which the Central American Federation emerged, to which Nicaragua also included Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica and El Salvador.

Place of Publication Frankfurt on Main
Dimensions (cm)28,5 x 18,5 cm
ConditionPerfect condition
Coloringoriginal colored
TechniqueCopper print

Reproduction:

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