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Visual Activity for Chapter 2

Figure false: MIXED RACES

Figure false: These eighteenth-century paintings illustrate forms of racial mixture common in the sixteenth century. In the first painting, a Spanish man and an Indian woman have a mestizo son; in the fourth, a Spanish man and a woman of African descent have a mulatto son. Can you detect any meanings of racial categories in the clothing? Schalklwijk / Art Resource, NY.

Question

READING THE IMAGE What do these paintings reveal about social status in New Spain?

Question

CONNECTIONS How do the paintings illustrate the power the Spaniards exercised in their New World colonies? What were some other aspects of colonial society that demonstrated Spanish domination?