Novus Orbis sive America Meridionalis et Septentrionalis
[The New World, or South and North America]
From Atlas Novus
Matthaus Seutter, mapmaker
Augsberg, c. 1730

Religion was a compelling motivation for European imperialism, and the opportunity to convert "heathen" Indians provided both a justification and means to conquer the indigenous peoples of the New World. Two Indians kneel reverently before a female figure representing Christianity, flanked on the right by an altar prepared for Holy Communion and on the left by Europeans at a dining table.

The lower cartouche portrays tranquil Indians surrounded by standard symbols representing the Americas. The seated figure wears a feathered headdress, armband, and skirt. A servant shades him from the sun with a baldachin (parasol), while others in the background and to the left harvest what appears to be sugarcane and tobacco. In the center background someone rests in a hammock suspended between two palm trees while another rows quietly out to sea. A pelican, a cockatiel, and whimsical flying fish, some sporting saw-like beaks, hover above the title. The latter creatures appear to be the artist's misconception of a sawfish.

The placement of the two scenes illustrating this work is significant. By depicting numerous symbols associated with Roman Catholicism above a scene of Indians, a subtle message is conveyed: European contact with Indians would yield vast spiritual riches in the form of Christian converts and benefit the indigenous people, who, because they did not practice a Christian faith, were "beneath" those who did.

Gift of Helen and Solis Seiferth

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