Ego Fvlcio Collvmnas Eivs · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: Ego Fvlcio Collvmnas Eivs
Subject: Coat of Arms; Colonialism; Colonization; Indigenous Peoples; Mines; Mistreatment
Period: 1600-1650;
Geographic: Peru; Potosí; Bolivia; South America; Castile; Spain
Description: This image depicts the coat of arms for the city of Potosí, Bolivia. There are fortifications at the bottom of the coat of arms that have lions on each side. This is representative of the coat of arms for Castile, Spain, which has both elements. The top of the coat of arms depicts the mountainous landscape of Bolivia and the importance of their silver mines. There is a line of people holding hands in front of the mountainous landscape. Surrounding the coat of arms are decapitated heads, most likely to symbolize the mistreatment of the indigenous peoples in silver mines in Potosí and in other regions of the old Inca Empire. The caption at the top of the image reads “Ciudad” [city], and the caption at the bottom of the image reads “Ego fvlcio collvmnas eivs” [I fortify its columns], which refers to the support the colonized regions of South America gave to its conquerers.
Image Creator: Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala (Illustrator)
Type: Text; Illustration [Manuscript]
Identifier: mta:24092
Language: spa
Source Name: El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno [The First New Chronicle and Good Government]
Parent Collection: Latin American Chronicles; Latin American Chronicles
Image: mta_24092_OBJ.jpg
Collection: Latin American Chronicles
Subject: Coat of Arms; Colonialism; Colonization; Indigenous Peoples; Mines; Mistreatment

Media: mta_24092_OBJ.jpg