Spaniards Forcing Natives to Eat Human Flesh

What it is

This is a detail of a black-and-white engraving by Johannes Gysius, dated 1620 and published in Holland. It illustrates the book Le miroir de la cruelle, & horrible tyrannie espagnole, which is attributed to Bartolomé de las Casas. The catalogue describes the scene as Spanish conquistadors forcing Indigenous people to eat human flesh in Guatemala in the 1500s. The image shows pale hanging limbs and figures in a crowded, dark scene.

Why it matters

Las Casas wrote about Spanish violence against Indigenous peoples in the Americas, and his reports were used to argue against it. The book was published more than fifty years after his death, however, and it tells its story through strong images made for a European audience. The engraving shows how the Spanish empire's cruelty, and the rivalry with Spain's enemies in the Netherlands, were presented to readers of the time. It reveals as much about how Europeans chose to see the conquest as about the events themselves.

Look closer

• What details in the engraving show violence, and which people are shown as victims and which as attackers?
• Who published this image, and why might a Dutch publisher in 1620 want to show Spanish cruelty?
• What does the picture leave out, such as the voices of the Indigenous people themselves?