New World Woodcut Image

1505woodblock.pdf

Dublin Core

Title

New World Woodcut Image

Subject

Native American, Indian, Savage, New World, Christopher Columbus

Description

This is one of the first visual depictions of the New World with images of its natives. It is a German woodcut print by an unknown creator. The print is taken from the descriptions provided by early explorers of the New World and gives Europeans one of the very first visual images of how natives were thought to appear. In this scene natives are shown to be nude and participating in sexual acts openly in public. They are partially clothed in feathers which is somewhat accurate from descriptions, however, men are depicted with beards which is inaccurate. In the of the image, a human can be seen cooking over a fire which shows their barbequing methods as well as portraying the image of cannibalism. European ships are shown to be arriving in the background of the print while natives in the foreground go about their day. The image is more representational of natives and drawn from collections of descriptions so much of this image cannot be taken literally; however, to those who viewed it during the sixteenth century it would have most likely have been accepted as a picturesque view of reality.

Creator

Unknown

Source

First Images of America: The Impact of the New World on the Old

Publisher

University of Memphis

Date

1505

Contributor

[no text]

Rights

University of California Press

Collection

Citation

Unknown, “New World Woodcut Image,” Early North America, accessed March 28, 2024, https://hist4620.omeka.net/items/show/10.

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