Van Der Straet's Discovery Of Americ Vespucci Landing In America

During the late sixteenth century, Spain had been fueled with fervor for colonial expansion. This reflected the European ideology of the time, which entailed the culturally myopic notion that Europe was the paragon of civilization, and that European nations had not only the right but also the obligation to civilize and westernize barbaric people from barbaric cultures, and to seize and imperialistically re-appropriate their foreign land. Jan Van Der Straet’s allegory “Discovery of America: Vespucci Landing in America” embodies the visualization of such European ideology and thereby attempts to lure early explorers and colonizers with enticing imagery, promising virgin land and bountiful natural wealth.
In the illustration, Van Der Straet …show more content…
His depiction of the savages also reflects European ideology, as they perceive the natives as inhuman and hierarchically inferior. Vespucci emphasizes the natives’ barbarism, stating, “…they themselves wonder why we do not eat our enemies and do not use as food their flesh which they say is most savory” (35). However, Jan Van der Straet strategically places the feast in the background of the image in order to appear less daunting compared to the allure of the bounty of the land and the beauty of the unclothed native woman. He depicts the barbarism in the distance also to portray how Vespucci will be able to seize control over the natives with minimal effort, and can disseminate European religion and customs with ease. Vespucci further disregards the significance of the natives in his letter, as he chooses to instead accentuate the wealth of the land, “abounding in numerous hills and mountains, boundless valleys and mighty rivers, watered by refreshing springs.” The juxtaposition of the free roaming animals in the picture and the cannibalistic feast implies that the natives lack a concept of civilization and morality, and therefore they must be enlightened as to how to behave properly and make better use of the …show more content…
Van der Straet portrays America’s natives as helpless creatures and emphasizes the bounty of its natural resources in order to entice his viewers to embark on a voyage to these new lands. However, his depiction omits the reality of the brutality and force used to plunder and seize the land from the natives. Vaan der Straet’s illustrative portrayal of the barbaric natives welcoming the Europeans with open arms accentuates the obliviousness of the widespread European belief that they needed to “help” the people they perceived to be uncivilized by expanding the imperialistic breadth of