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Secondary sourcePainting1726

Vasco Núñez de Balboa Taking Possession of the Pacific Ocean

1726

An engraved title page from Antonio de Herrera's 1726 history of the Americas, showing Balboa wading into the sea to claim it for Spain.

Depicts Balboa's famous act of claiming the Pacific Ocean for Spain, as remembered in an 18th-century Spanish history.

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Black and white engraving showing Vasco Nunez de Balboa in armor wading into the sea with a raised sword and shield, with soldiers and dogs on shore. An inset oval portrait bust in profile of a bearded man in a plumed hat sits at upper right, with a Latin-style inscription around it. Partial handwritten label 'Antonio de' at top left.
Title page engraving, in Antonio de Herrera, Historia General, vol. II, 1726. Library of Congress.

About this source

What it is

This engraving, dated 1726, appears on the title page of a volume of Antonio de Herrera's Historia General, a Spanish history of the Americas. It shows Vasco Núñez de Balboa in armor wading into the sea with a raised sword and shield, watched by soldiers and dogs on shore, with a small inset portrait bust of him. It is held by the Library of Congress.

Why it matters

Made over two centuries after the event, this image shows how Spanish historians of the 1700s staged and remembered Balboa's famous act of claiming the Pacific Ocean for the Spanish crown, part of the broader story of Spanish conquest told by Herrera.

  • Why might an artist choose to show Balboa stepping into the water with a raised sword, rather than another moment?
  • What does the presence of soldiers and dogs suggest about the expedition?
  • What does this image leave out about the people who already lived in this land?

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

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