In the late 1500s, the engraver Theodor de Bry and his sons began creating a series of copperplate illustrations depicting the exploration of the Americas. Because de Bry had never visited the New World, his illustrations came from descriptions and pictures by explorers. He got a number of cultural facts wrong, but his scenes were detailed and graphic and enormously popular. The de Bry family created hundreds of illustrations, which were used in their own books and those of others, including Bartolomé de Las Casas. These scenes figured into discussions about the legitimacy of Spanish actions in the Americas, as well as popular views of native populations. The first illustration below depicts Spanish cruelty against Indians; the second one shows Indian torture of Spanish explorers.

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