Lienzo de Tequixtepec

Writing in 1531, the famous Spanish humanist, Juan Luis Vives, examined the relationship between observation and knowledge. “Observation,” he wrote, “begins with the eye.” Vives then distinguished between seeing — a sensory phenomenon — and understanding or...

In 1535 the young Felipe de Guevara accompanied Carlos V on his successful campaign to recapture Tunis from the Turks, an event that was financed by the ransom of the Inca sovereign Atahualpa. Guevara also traveled with and observed the Flemish artist Jan de Vermeyn, who recorded visually the entire expedition so that it might be turned into the greatest tapestries of the Spanish royal...