Theodore De Bery Analysis

This engraving from Theodore de Bry dates back to 1594, or more than a century after the discovery of Christopher Colombus. It describes the violence of the Western population’s arrival in the Americas, protected by armor and weaponry, in front of the representation of barely dressed Indians - if not naked - totally disarmed. Two distincts time of the New World discovery are depicted in this image. On the background we can observe three sheeps from Columbus’ fleet. Part of the crew deploys the sails while another is about to take a boat to land on shore. We can see these indigenous represented as “natural” individuals, running on the right side of the image. They seem frightened by the arrival of the Spaniards, so different from them, dressed …show more content…
First of all, I can recognize these three ships from the background as the ones Colombus used in real life: La Pinta, La Niña y la Santa Maria. Also, we have noticed earlier that in the engraving the indigenous are depicted as giving with free will golden and valuable presents to the Spaniards. This is far from being the truth, it has been shown that the Spaniards rather violently stole and appropriated themselves these goods. At first sight, one could say that this engraving is biased because it has been made by an exiled Protestant fleeing the Catholics that were trying to impose their religion all over Europe. The author has its own reasons to portray the Catholics as violent and fearless, but if we look closer at the reality, we know that this engraving is mostly portraying with reasonability the arrival of the Spaniards, brutal and coercive. This primary source has been used over the years to demonstrate the forced conversion to catholicism by brutal spaniards. The invaders are represented with a complete lack of modesty and even a certain severity and arrogance, that opposes the humanity embodied by the