Historical manuscript page with handwritten Spanish text, several illustrations including a crowned figure on a throne labeled "S.TIDAD," coats of arms, and seated individuals in prayer, from 1744.

Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala

Indigenous Andean Author and Artist (1535–1616)

Author of El primer nueva corónica i buen gobierno (c. 1615), an almost 1,200-page letter written to the King of Spain that also has 398 illustrations.

A historical black-and-white line drawing depicting a religious scene with a priest teaching three kneeling figures, some with praying gestures, inside a building with arched windows and stone walls.
Learn more about the colonial Americas

Learn about conquistadors, including how some are portrayed in Guaman Poma’s letter.

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