Vincente Valverde trying to persuade the Inca to convert to Christianity rather than be massacred by Pizzarro. Engraving by W. Greatbach after H.P. Briggs.
- Briggs, Henry Perronet, 1792-1844.
- Date:
- 1830
- Reference:
- 30005i
- Pictures
- Online
Selected images from this work
View 1 imageAbout this work
Description
The man on the right who reaches for his pistol is presemably Pizzarro. One of his soldiers, wearing full armour, looks at him with an expression of alarm. Valverde, in the centre, holds a book in his left hand and points to a cannon with his right hand, illustrating the terms being proposed to the Incas. They are represented by an Inca man wearing a jewelled headdress, presumably Atahuallpa; next to him is a bare-breasted Inca woman. The discussion took place at Cajamarca, Peru, and was followed by a massacre of the Incas
Publication/Creation
[London] : published for the proprietors
Physical description
1 print : engraving, with etching ; platemark 26.7 x 36 cm
Lettering
Painted by H.P Briggs A.R.A. Engraved by W. Greatbach.
References note
The exhibition of the Royal Academy, volume 58, London 1826, p. 11, no 135 ("The first interview between the Spaniards and Peruvians H. P. Briggs, A. "As the Inca drew near, Father Vincent Valverde, Chaplain to the Expedition, explained in a long discourse, the doctrine of the Catholic Faith, exhorting the Inca to acknowledge the supreme jurisdiction of the Pope, and to submit to the King of Castile, as his lawful Sovereign, promising him protection if he complied, but if he refused, denouncing war and vengeance in his master's name." The conference ended in a general massacre of the Peruvians, and the imprisonment of the Inca. Vide Robertson's History of America; the Royal Commentaries of Peru, by Garcelasso de la Vega,&c.")
Reference
Wellcome Collection 30005i
Reproduction note
After a painting exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1826, given by Robert Vernon to the National Gallery, London, in 1847, and subsequently in the Tate Gallery
Type/Technique
Languages
Where to find it
Location Status Access Closed stores