Skip to main content

Secondary sourcePainting1805

Engraving of Hernán Cortés after Juan Antonio Salvador Carmona

Antonio Carnicero Mancio, after Juan Antonio Salvador Carmona · 1805

An 1805 engraving of Cortés in a plumed hat and cloak, based on an earlier painted likeness, showing his later reputation.

Shows Cortés's posthumous reputation as a titled noble and military governor of New Spain.

Ask Hernán Cortés about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Engraved portrait print of Hernán Cortés, a man in a broad brimmed hat and fur-trimmed cloak over armor, with a caption cartouche below reading Hernan Cortes, Marques del Valle, Capitan Gral. de N. España. Handwritten numbers appear at the top corner.
Antonio Carnicero Mancio, after Juan Antonio Salvador Carmona, Engraving of Hernán Cortés, 1805. Archivo de la Diputación Provincial de Cáceres.

About this source

What it is

This engraving, made in 1805 by Antonio Carnicero Mancio after an earlier work by Juan Antonio Salvador Carmona, shows a man in a broad-brimmed hat and fur-trimmed cloak over armor. The caption names him 'Hernan Cortes, Marques del Valle, Capitan Gral. de N. España'. It is held by the Archivo de la Diputación Provincial de Cáceres.

Why it matters

Because it copies an older painted image, this print shows how portraits of Cortés were passed down and reproduced over generations, each time shaping his historical image. The title stresses his noble rank and military role in New Spain, showing how Spaniards wanted him remembered.

Look closer

  • Why might the engravers choose to copy an earlier portrait rather than invent a new one?
  • What does the title under the image emphasize about Cortés's identity?
  • How do clothing and titles work together to build an image of authority?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Hernán Cortés on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Hernán Cortés sources

Meet the AI Hernán Cortés →
Title page of a 1524 printed book in black-letter type, framed by woodcut decorative borders, with a red handwritten signature and a note reading 'Cum Gratia, & Priuilegio' near the bottom. The title text describes Cortés's narrative to Emperor Charles V.Letter

Primary source

Letters from Hernán Cortés to Charles V

Hernán Cortés · 1520 (printed 1524)

Woodcut-style map from 1524 showing the Gulf of Mexico coastline on the left and the island city of Tenochtitlan on the right, with canals, causeways, temple precinct, and a Latin inscription at top, colored by hand.Document

Primary source

1524 Nuremberg Map of Tenochtitlan

Unknown engraver, published by Friedrich Peypus · 1524

Lithograph portrait of Hernán Cortés, a bearded man with shoulder-length hair wearing ornate armor, shown from the chest up in three-quarter view, with the caption HERNAN CORTÉS below on a cream paper sheet.Painting

Secondary source

Engraving of Hernán Cortés

José Cebrián García · 1870

Open bound manuscript on a green cloth, showing two pages of handwritten text in columns with small painted illustrations of fish, a shell, a crab, and shrimp. Page headed 'Libro undecimo'.Book

Secondary source

Florentine Codex

Bernardino de Sahagún with Nahua collaborators · 1569

Engraved title page of the 1632 Madrid edition of Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España. Central text panel lists Bernal Díaz del Castillo and Fray Alonso Remón. Flanked by armored Hernán Cortés and a robed friar with a cross, a crest at top, and a Mexico City view at bottom.Book

Primary source

Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España

Bernal Díaz del Castillo · 1568

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Hernán Cortés now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions