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Secondary sourcePaintingc. 1920-1927

The Capture of Atahualpa

Juan Lepiani · c. 1920-1927

A 20th-century oil painting imagining the dramatic 1532 capture of Atahualpa by Spanish forces at Cajamarca.

A later painted depiction of Atahualpa's capture, the pivotal moment of his downfall.

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Oil painting of a chaotic plaza before a stone fortress at sunset. A seated figure in a white tunic and red cloak, wearing a large gold headdress, is surrounded by crowds. A mounted, armored Spanish knight on a black horse brandishes a sword, while white horses, a white banner with a red cross, and many fleeing or kneeling people fill the scene.
Juan Lepiani, The Capture of Atahualpa, c. 1920-1927.

About this source

What it is

This oil painting by Juan Lepiani, made around 1920-1927, depicts the Battle of Cajamarca and the capture of Atahualpa in 1532, the event that began the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. It shows a crowded plaza, a seated figure in a gold headdress surrounded by people, and an armored Spanish knight on horseback.

Why it matters

Painted nearly four centuries after the event, this work reflects how later Peruvian artists imagined and remembered the fall of Atahualpa and the Inca Empire. It is not an eyewitness image but a dramatic reconstruction meant to convey the violence and shock of that moment.

Look closer

  • What details in the painting suggest chaos and fear among the crowd?
  • Why might an artist working centuries later choose to paint this scene, and what choices did he make about what to show?
  • What can't a painting like this tell us about what actually happened?

This painting 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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