Twaalf mensen uit Amerika, Azië en Afrika, gekleed volgens de dracht van ca. 1580 before 1581

Abraham de Bruyn created this print, "Twelve People from America, Asia and Africa," around 1580, using engraving techniques. These weren't straightforward portraits, but rather depictions of people from different continents, filtered through a European lens. Prints like this reveal the cultural dynamics of the time. Made in the Netherlands, a rising center of global trade, it reflects a growing awareness of other cultures. Yet, the print also demonstrates the biases inherent in European observation. The figures are presented as types, their clothing and features meticulously rendered, yet often exoticized or generalized. The institutional history here is crucial. Prints like these were not just art, but tools of knowledge and power, helping to shape European perceptions of the wider world. Historians can look at trading records, colonial documents, and travel narratives to understand how these images fit into a larger framework of cross-cultural encounters and European expansionism. The meaning of this print is dependent on understanding this social and institutional context.