Early Modern (1450 CE - 1800 CE)

Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy, 1718-1820

Southeast Asia Visions Collection

The Dutch Ambassador on his Way to Isfahan

This painting by Jan Baptist Weenix depicts the Dutch ambassador Joan Cunaeus and his secretary, Cornelis Speelman, on a diplomatic mission to Isfahan in Persia in 1651-52. The men were sent to Isfahan on behalf of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) to stimulate trade in horses and silk.

Reception of the Envoys from Kandy in Colombo

This is a 1772 image by Carel Frederik Reimer depicting the reception of representatives of the King of Kandy at the Dutch East India Company’s (VOC) governor’s house in Colombo, Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka).

Dutch East India Company Embassy to India

This painting by an unknown artist depicts the meeting of Dutch East India Company (VOC) officials and the ruler of Udaipur, a city in the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan.

Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings

This is a painting done in the miniature style by Mughal court painter Bichitr, ca. 1615-18. The Mughal emperor Jahangir is shown holding court atop an ornate hourglass throne. The golden hourglass, European in design, highlights the global contact between Europeans and the Mughal Empire.

Native Going to Fish with a Torch and Flambeaux

This image is from the Watling Collection, a collection of 512 numbered drawings depicting natural history and ethnographic subjects from eighteenth-century Australia. Thomas Watling, an artist from Dumfries, Scotland, created a large portion of the collection.

Mameluke with a basket of flowers, 1641

Albert Eckhout was the first European painter in Brazil. Eckhout was an official painter, hired by Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen, a prince of the House of Orange.

Dream Anatomy

Excerpts from Slave Narratives