Superb, Colored, Very Early View of the Incan Capital City

RAMUSIO, J. G./ GASTALDI, G. [Venice, 1556/ ?]

Cusco/ Peru.  RAMUSIO, J. G./ GASTALDI, G.  [Venice, 1556/ ?]  Il Cuscho Citta Principale Della Provincia Del Peru 11 x 15  inches.  Fine hand color; bit of creasing along vertical fold else fine condition                                                                                                                        
Very early, well-detailed bird’s-eye view of the center of Incan civilization, which is today designated as the historic capital of Peru.  Published just 22 years after the Spanish conquest of the city led by Pizarro, the woodcut is one of the few extant images from the Discovery Period of an intact Incan city.  The regular, geometric street pattern suggests the Incan city was built according to plan.  Its most prominent feature is the temple-palace complex to the left.  The city became the center of the Spanish colonial empire in South America and would prosper.  Both armored Spanish on horseback and native peoples bearing spears are depicted in the view in apparent amity. 

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