The Mulatto GentlemAn of Esmeraldas

Los tres mulatos de Esmeraldas (1599)

Portrait of Don Francisco de Arobe and Sons Pedro and Domingo from the Esmeraldas coast in Ecuador. The son of an escaped African slave and a native woman, Francisco submitted to the authority of the Spanish Crown in exchange for the governorship of the province of Esmeraldas. 

Introduction

This 1599 portrait was commissioned by Juan de Barrio de Sepúlveda as a gift for Philip III, the King of Spain. It depicts Don Francisco de la Arobe and his sons Pedro and Domingo, who ruled a settlement of self-liberated African men and women in the region of Esmeraldas on Ecuador’s coast. The image combines native, African, and European elements and is intended to signify the submission of the “maroons” to the authority of the Spanish Crown. Painted by the native artist Andrés Sánchez Gallque, it is the oldest signed and dated artwork from the Viceroyalty of Peru.

 

Further Reading
Citations
Cite this page

Slavery Law & Power in Early America and the British Empire (July 25, 2024) Mulatos de Esmeraldas. Retrieved from https://slaverylawpower.org/mulatos-de-esmeraldas/.
"Mulatos de Esmeraldas." Slavery Law & Power in Early America and the British Empire - July 25, 2024, https://slaverylawpower.org/mulatos-de-esmeraldas/
Slavery Law & Power in Early America and the British Empire February 24, 2021 Mulatos de Esmeraldas., viewed July 25, 2024,<https://slaverylawpower.org/mulatos-de-esmeraldas/>
Slavery Law & Power in Early America and the British Empire - Mulatos de Esmeraldas. [Internet]. [Accessed July 25, 2024]. Available from: https://slaverylawpower.org/mulatos-de-esmeraldas/
"Mulatos de Esmeraldas." Slavery Law & Power in Early America and the British Empire - Accessed July 25, 2024. https://slaverylawpower.org/mulatos-de-esmeraldas/
"Mulatos de Esmeraldas." Slavery Law & Power in Early America and the British Empire [Online]. Available: https://slaverylawpower.org/mulatos-de-esmeraldas/. [Accessed: July 25, 2024]

“Los tres mulatos de Esmeraldas,” oil on canvas, original at the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid