From savages to good vassals: Indians in the imagery representations of the delivery of the New World (XVI-XVIII centuries)

Abstract

The article discusses the inconstancy of the image of native Americans during the processes of conquest and colonization of America, and the concomitant repetition of a fundamental gesture: the New World given as a gift to a monarch. Although the gesture of genuflection was part of the materialization of European’s colonial aspirations, we believe that the presence of Amerindians in the images is very significant. We study these images as integral parts of a network of representations that was active in the constitution of the imaginaries about the Spanish Empire. We have analyzed several images in which that gesture is present, especially in engravings. However, we have highlighted the engravings of the book Historia de Nueva-España, a collection of letters by Hernan Cortez, compiled with other documents and notes by the Archbishop of Mexico, Don Francisco Antonio Lorenzana, in 1770, which can be found in the section of rare books at the National Library (RJ). We conclude that in two centuries, under two dynasties, there were some changes in the representations. However, something remained in the imagetic discourse: Europeans with expectations of receiving objects and wealth from the hands of Indians.

Keywords: native Americans, New World, Spanish Empire, images.