"The Black Kings of Esmeraldas"

1599

This is believed to be the earliest signed and dated painting from South America.

Los Tres Mulatos de Esmeraldas depicts cacique Don Francisco de Arobe and his sons Pedro and Domingo. Arobe was the son of self-emancipated parents, an African father and an Indigenous mother. He led one of several maroon settlements— communities established by self-emancipated Africans and Indigenous people—in the coastal region of Esmeraldas, Ecuador.

Signed by Indigenous painter Andrés Sánchez Gallque, the painting is known by many names, including The Mulatto Gentlemen of Esmeraldas, The Black Kings of Esmeraldas, and Don Francisco de Arobe y sus hijos, caciques de Esmeraldas. Juan del Barrio y Sepúlveda commissioned the portrait for King Philip III of Spain as a gift. It is visual evidence that Don Francisco submitted to Spanish rule, in exchange for regional autonomy and self-governance.  

The portrait shows three Black men, intentionally fashioned with specific cultural markers: Spanish-style collars and sleeves, tunics and adornments representing their Ecuadorian coastal home and Indigenous high rank, and metal-tipped spears designed in a West African style. The portrait represents the preservation and limits of Black and Indigenous self-determination in the face of colonial power and conquest.