[Dog-headed cannibals on a Caribbean island] · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: [Dog-headed cannibals on a Caribbean island]
Subject: Indigenous peoples – West Indies; Cannibalism; Mythology
Period: 1500-1550;
Geographic: West Indies; Free Imperial City of Strassburg; Germany; Holy Roman Empire
Description: The text accompanying this image describes the dog-headed people as inhabiting an island discovered by Christopher Columbus and notes how they are a fearsome people who frequently practice cannibalism and wear no garments except parrot feathers for adornment. The image depicts four dog-headed individuals. The one on the left leads an animal with a human body strapped to it. Two in the middle of the image butcher another body on a large block – limbs have been hung from a wooden frame above their heads. On the right, the fourth individual is consuming an arm.
Image Creator: Unknown (Woodcutter);Unknown (Painter);Johann Grüninger (Printer); Unknown (Woodcutter); Unknown (Painter); Johann Grüninger (Printer)
Type: StillImage; Woodcut
Identifier: mta:22907
Language: ger
Source Name: Uslegung der Mercarthen oder Cartha Marina Darin man sehen mag, wa einer in der welt sey, vnd wa ein ietlich Land, Wasser und Stat gelegē ist. Das als in dē büchlin zefindē
Parent Collection: 1525 German; 1525 German
Image: mta_22907_OBJ.png
Collection: European Illustrations of Native Americans
Subject: Indigenous peoples – West Indies; Cannibalism; Mythology