Christiani ab Indianis Nefarie et Fraudulenter trucidantur (The Christians are Cruelly and Deceitfully Slaughtered by the Indians)
- de Bry Workshop
- Johann Israel de Bry, 1565-1609
- Johann Theodor de Bry, 1561-1631
De Bry Workshop, Christiani ab Indianis Nefarie et Fraudulenter Trucidantur (The Christians are Cruelly and Deceitfully Slaughtered by the Indians), 1599. Engraving; 13 x 9⅛ in. Gift of the Collection of Frederick and Jan Mayer, 2000.375.
During Pedro de Mendoza’s expedition to Río de la Plata in the 1530s, he sent Juan de Ayolas and a company of men to scout the Paraguay River. Ayolas and his men initially made positive contact with the Payaguá people who lived in the region. However, the Indigenous group eventually turned on the Spaniards and executed Ayolas in 1537. In retaliation, Diego Martínez de Irata captured two members of the Payaguá and had them tortured and burned at the stake, visible at left. Standing at center is Irata, flanked by a long phalanx of armored Spanish soldiers. Behind him, the Spaniards and Payaguá are embroiled in a fierce battle.
This episode was recorded by the chronicler Ulrich Schmidl in his Conquest of the River Plate (1557) and served as the basis for this engraving by the de Bry family. It appeared in volume eight of Theodor de Bry’s America (1599), which was published by his sons Johann Theodor and Johann Israel after their father's death in 1598.
– Kathryn Santner, Frederick and Jan Mayer Fellow of Spanish Colonial Art, 2022
