Incredible Treasures

Atahuallpa the imprisoned  emperor of the Incas promised Pizarro and his conquistadors to fill the whole room with gold. An illustration for the book "The Men Who Found America" (1909) by the American artist Herbert Moore. The desperate emperor is here effectively confronted with the sinister, greedy Spanish. Interesting are also the symbolic colors: the golden light and the blood red trousers.

Bold Americans

Ferdinand de Soto on the banks of the Mississippi by the American artist Herbert Moore (1881-1943). This was an illustration for the book "The Men Who Found America" by Frederick Winthrop Hutchinson (1909).

The Spanish conquistador is looking on the endless waters of the Mississippi, where he should die in 1542. The vastness of the landscape and the river underlines the courage of these men, who went so far in unknown territory. And last not least the Spaniard is here claimed as one of the forefathers of the modern US-Americans.