History 111: U.S. History to 1877

Picturing Columbus

Picturing Columbus

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Image from the assigned reading

A depiction of Columbus meeting the native inhabitants of the Caribbean. Colmbus and his men look self-assured and curious; the indigenous people look cautious, worried, or subservient.
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. “Christopher Columbus.” New York Public Library Digital Collections.

Additional images of Columbus

An engraving of Columbus greeting the Native peoples of the Caribbean. Columbus looks self-assured, and the indigenous people are approaching him with gifts.
The engraving by Theodore de Bry, from 1592, which formed part of his “America-series”, showing Christopher Columbus landing on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola in 1492 – Source.
A depiction of Columbus greeting the Native peoples of the Caribbean. Columbus looks self-assured, but the indigenous people look awed or excited.
Bernard Picart’s depiction of Columbus’ landing as featured in his Ceremonies et Coutumes Religieuses de Tous les Peuples du Monde, 1732 – Source.
An etching of Columbus greeting the Native peoples of the Caribbean. Columbus looks self-assured, but the indigenous people look awed or afraid.
Reinier Vinkeles’ 1788 etching depicting Columbus’ landing – Source.

Image captions/attributions by Michiel van Groesen, and used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license. Read van Groesen’s commentary on these images at the Public Domain Review.