Market of Goa
Author: Jan Huygen van Linschoten
Engraver: Johannes von Doetecum
Publisher: Cornelis Claesz
Title: Itinerario, Market of Goa
Date: 1595/96
Location of Publication: Amsterdam
Technique: Engraving
Rights/Image Permissions: Public Domain. Courtesy of Radboud University Library, shelf mark OD 246 b 6.
Engraver: Johannes von Doetecum
Publisher: Cornelis Claesz
Title: Itinerario, Market of Goa
Date: 1595/96
Location of Publication: Amsterdam
Technique: Engraving
Rights/Image Permissions: Public Domain. Courtesy of Radboud University Library, shelf mark OD 246 b 6.
To fully understand Market of Goa, one must first take into account the Inquisition in Goa. In 1534, Goa became the first city in Asia to have an office of a Bishop, but the Catholic Church was lackadaisical about enforcing Catholicism (Ames). By 1540, the Jesuits were less tolerant of Hinduism and destroyed all the Hindu temples and art in Goa to promote conversion to Catholicism. Goa became an archbishopric in 1560 and from then and well into the seventeenth century strict, harsh laws were put in place to condemn the practice of Hinduism (Ames).
Jan Huygen van Linschoten, a Dutch merchant, lived in Goa from 1583 to 1588 (Boogaart). While there, he kept written observations of the people and economic practices. Upon his return to the Netherlands, Linschoten published these observations with a series of engravings, of which Market of Goa is one, under the title of Itinerario. According to scholar Arun Saldanha, the purpose of Itinerario was to depict the gradual decay of Portuguese imperial rule (Saldanha). However, it is not the accuracy of Linschoten’s claim that is important here (Portugal remained in control of Goa until 1961), but rather the reception of the image (Saldanha). Market of Goa depicted the diverse racial landscape of the marketplace. The differences in class inequality are not hard to notice in this image. Women captives, usually forced into prostitution, are seen naked from the waist up (Saldanha). To the left of the image, a group of Portuguese men are gathered for the sale of a shackled semi-nude woman and a dark-skinned boy. From later chapters of Itinerario we know that many captives were imported from Mozambique (Saldanha). Asian or African slaves carry a noblewoman in a palanquin in the far right of the image. Italian, German, and Portuguese men are seen throughout the image selling their goods. It is not clear from the image what goods are being sold (besides people), but Boogaart tells us these goods included Portuguese wines, fruits and vegetables, baked goods, herbs, medicines, textiles, embroidery, and wood carvings, among others.
Jan Huygen van Linschoten, a Dutch merchant, lived in Goa from 1583 to 1588 (Boogaart). While there, he kept written observations of the people and economic practices. Upon his return to the Netherlands, Linschoten published these observations with a series of engravings, of which Market of Goa is one, under the title of Itinerario. According to scholar Arun Saldanha, the purpose of Itinerario was to depict the gradual decay of Portuguese imperial rule (Saldanha). However, it is not the accuracy of Linschoten’s claim that is important here (Portugal remained in control of Goa until 1961), but rather the reception of the image (Saldanha). Market of Goa depicted the diverse racial landscape of the marketplace. The differences in class inequality are not hard to notice in this image. Women captives, usually forced into prostitution, are seen naked from the waist up (Saldanha). To the left of the image, a group of Portuguese men are gathered for the sale of a shackled semi-nude woman and a dark-skinned boy. From later chapters of Itinerario we know that many captives were imported from Mozambique (Saldanha). Asian or African slaves carry a noblewoman in a palanquin in the far right of the image. Italian, German, and Portuguese men are seen throughout the image selling their goods. It is not clear from the image what goods are being sold (besides people), but Boogaart tells us these goods included Portuguese wines, fruits and vegetables, baked goods, herbs, medicines, textiles, embroidery, and wood carvings, among others.
Kiara Stroh
Bibliography
Ames, Glenn J. 2012. "Acts of Faith and State: The Goa Inquisition and the French Challenge to the Estate Da India, c. 1650-1675.”." The Portuguese Studies Review (Trent University) 17 (1): 11-14.
Boogaart, Ernst van der. 2003. "Civil and corrupt Asia: Image and Text in the "Itinerario" and the "icones" of Jan Huygen van Linschoten." Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Saldanha, Arun. 2011. "The Itineraries of Geography: Jan Huygen van Linschoten's "Itinerario" and Dutch Expeditions to the Indian Ocean, 1594–1602." Annals of the Association of American Geographers (Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Association of American Geographers) 101 (1): 149-177.
Ames, Glenn J. 2012. "Acts of Faith and State: The Goa Inquisition and the French Challenge to the Estate Da India, c. 1650-1675.”." The Portuguese Studies Review (Trent University) 17 (1): 11-14.
Boogaart, Ernst van der. 2003. "Civil and corrupt Asia: Image and Text in the "Itinerario" and the "icones" of Jan Huygen van Linschoten." Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Saldanha, Arun. 2011. "The Itineraries of Geography: Jan Huygen van Linschoten's "Itinerario" and Dutch Expeditions to the Indian Ocean, 1594–1602." Annals of the Association of American Geographers (Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Association of American Geographers) 101 (1): 149-177.
Wikipedia article on this object can be found here.
Author Bio:
Kiara Stroh is an undergraduate student at Concordia College of Moorhead pursuing a BA in Psychology and Neuroscience with a minor in Art History.
Kiara Stroh is an undergraduate student at Concordia College of Moorhead pursuing a BA in Psychology and Neuroscience with a minor in Art History.