Hi!

If you liked this post then take a look at my Instagram, every day I post artwork by a different artist there.

This painting was first presented in the 1889 Exposition Universelle and won a medal, making the painter very famous internationally. The painting depicts the story of the foundation of Chile's capital, Santiago:

Having been sent by Francisco Pizarro from Peru and having made the long journey from Cuzco, Extremadura conquistador Pedro de Valdivia reached the valley of the Mapocho on 13 December 1540. The hosts of Valdivia camped by the river in the slopes of the Tupahue hill and slowly began to interact with the Picunche people who inhabited the area. Valdivia later summoned the chiefs of the area to a parliament, where he explained his intention to found a city on behalf of the king Carlos I of Spain, which would be the capital of his governorship of Nueva Extremadura. The natives accepted and even recommended the foundation of the town on a small island between two branches of the river next to a small hill called Huelén. On 12 February 1541 Valdivia officially founded the city of Santiago del Nuevo Extremo (Santiago of New Extremadura).

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