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Secondary sourceSculpture2010

Statue of Atahualpa, Royal Palace of Madrid

Basilio · 2010

A 2010 photograph of a modern stone statue of Atahualpa on the south facade of the Royal Palace of Madrid.

A modern statue commemorating Atahualpa, showing how he is remembered today, including in Spain.

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Photograph of a light stone statue set on a pedestal against a pale building wall. The figure wears a headdress with a tassel, a cape draped over the shoulders, a belted tunic with a fringed skirt, and boots. One arm is raised with a fist, the other rests on the hip. Strong shadow falls on the wall to the left.
Basilio, photograph of statue of Atahualpa, Royal Palace of Madrid, 2010.

About this source

What it is

This is a photograph taken in 2010 of a statue of Atahualpa, the last Inca emperor, placed on the south facade of the Main Floor of the Royal Palace of Madrid. The statue shows a standing figure in a feathered headdress, cape, and belted tunic.

Why it matters

The statue is a modern commemoration, not a contemporary image, and shows how Atahualpa is remembered centuries later, even far from Peru in the capital of the country that conquered the Inca Empire.

Look closer

  • Why might a statue of Atahualpa be placed in Madrid, the capital of Spain?
  • What details of clothing and pose did the sculptor choose to show, and what might that suggest about how they imagined him?
  • Does this statue tell us anything reliable about what Atahualpa actually looked like?

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

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Black-and-white ink line drawing with a bold Spanish caption across the top reading Conquista and Atahualpa, Ciudad de Caxamarca. A robed friar with a cross faces a kneeling Inca man, while a crowd of Spanish soldiers with spears and Andean figures fills the scene.Painting

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Pen-and-ink drawing titled 'Conquista', showing Spanish soldiers in armor and helmets with a seated Inca ruler being executed. A bearded, feathered Spanish figure stands at left; a figure with a cross and sword stands center; a headless body lies on the ground below, with a severed head held at right. Caption text at the bottom is in Spanish.Painting

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A stone building with a low tiled roof and a small doorway at its base, its pale stone-block walls lit by sunshine under a blue sky. Rough rock slabs lie in the foreground.Artifact

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Ransom Room

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