Native Americans greet Girolamo Benzoni in 1519

[John in Denver]

Take a good look at these 'Indians' they look like a pure Caucasian tribe with a few minor exceptions. Also, look at the size of the women compared to the explorers, an artists imagination perhaps? or actual size?

Could these people be a lost tribe who originated from the Black sea basin?

http://www.lunacommons.org/luna/servlet/view/all/who/Benzoni,+Girolamo,+b.+1519

[Electronic God-Man]

Take a good look at these 'Indians' they look like a pure Caucasian tribe with a few minor exceptions. Also, look at the size of the women compared to the explorers, an artists imagination perhaps? or actual size?

Could these people be a lost tribe who originated from the Black sea basin?

http://www.lunacommons.org/luna/servlet/view/all/who/Benzoni,+Girolamo,+b.+1519

It's all imagination. Was the artist even in the Americas? Actually, to me the natives don't look European in appearance. I've seen plenty of these native representations where the natives are given a rather bland general human look...mostly because the artists didn't really know what they looked like.

Check out what he has them worshiping. I'm no expert, but I've never seen anything that looks like that from native mythology.

And where are you getting this Black Sea basin nonsense?

[John in Denver]

It's all imagination. Was the artist even in the Americas? Actually, to me the natives don't look European in appearance. I've seen plenty of these native representations where the natives are given a rather bland general human look...mostly because the artists didn't really know what they looked like.

Check out what he has them worshiping. I'm no expert, but I've never seen anything that looks like that from native mythology.

You could be right, i was just looking for opinions i realize it's an artists perception whether real or imagined but there are many pictures that are showing a Aryan like archetype.




And where are you getting this Black Sea basin nonsense?

http://www.vrilology.org/

[SwordoftheVistula]

Seems like this guy actually did go to the Americas:

http://www.myloc.gov/Exhibitions/EarlyAmericas/ExplorationsandEncounters/ColumbusandtheTaino/ExhibitObjects/GirolamoBenzoni.aspx

In 1541, Girolamo Benzoni left his native Milan for a fifteen-year trip through South and Central America. He published this account of his travels in 1565. Shocked by experiences of Spanish cruelty toward the Indians, Benzoni denounced the mistreatment. He also criticized importation of African slaves. Although Benzoni has been criticized for exaggeration, his work provides a compact history of the Americas from the arrival of Columbus to the conquest of Peru, from firsthand perspective not colored by Spanish bias. His crude woodcut illustrations give a glimpse of indigenous life before it was altered by European civilization.

Here's another account where he describes the indians as "They wear no beard, and if a few hairs appear, with certain little pincers they pull them out" which sounds more like typical indians/mongoloids than any caucasians.

http://books.google.com/books?id=S_uC2e5rtAQC&pg=PA92&lpg=PA92&dq=Girolamo+Benzoni&source=bl&ots=AP72uBCo1N&sig=7IckapMeFBe4Cr1JegJ6qS2SzT0&hl=en&ei=D8qZS9GvAsKB8gbjydzICg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CCoQ6AEwCTgK#v=onepage&q=Girolamo%20Benzoni&f=false

[Óttar]

The artist is applying a schema when depicting the Native Americans. That's how the artist was trained to draw humans in general. There were also paintings depicting natives with dragon-heads and animal bodies. It was just the sensationalism of the times. :coffee:

[Pallantides]

I have seen some old pictures of Sioux that look similar to 19th century Norwegian farmers.