Unus Americanus ex Virginia (Primary Title)
Wenceslaus Hollar, Bohemian, 1607 - 1677, active in Germany, Flanders, and England (Artist)
By the mid-1600s Europeans had become intensely curious about the Americas, seeking information about new products and indigenous peoples. At top left “Unus Americanus ex Virginia” indicates that this individual is an American from Virginia. In this era, however, the term “Virginia” referred to a much larger area stretching from present-day Virginia to New England. Scholars believe that this man, known as Jacques, was an Algonquian-speaking member of the Munsee- Delaware Nation. He was taken prisoner in 1644 and transported to Antwerp for exhibition in 1645, where Hollar portrayed him shortly before Jacques died.
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