“The Mourning Widows” by Jacques le Moyne. Frankfurt: Theodore De Bry, c. 1591. Translation provided on back of mat. Note: considerable browning and trimmed margins. (Image and Text: 10 x 8 1/4")
This view depicts the manner in which Florida Indian Widows mourn. They cut and their hair over the graves and will not marry again until their shortened hair has grown over their shoulders.
Produced in Germany, c. 1591, by De Bry from a drawing by Jacques le Moyne de Morgues - an artist who accompanied the French Expedition to “Florida” under René de Laudonnière. Le Moyne arrived on the coast of present-day South Carolina in 1564 and barely escaped the Spanish massacre at Fort Caroline in 1565. His drawings are among the earliest authentic representations of aboriginal life in North America.
Le Moyne’s work depicts life in the first Huguenot Colony, on the shores of St. John’s River, and elsewhere along the coast. The images reflect life as le Moyne saw it. His task was to sketch the Indians, their customs and habits; map the seacoast and harbors, indicate the position of towns, plot the rivers and “anything else in the country worthy of observation” - lending the world an eyewitness account of the exciting and unknown NEW WORLD.
This item is presented in archival matting (20 x 16").
