Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala
Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, (1535-1616) was a Quechua Indian known for describing the ill treatment of the natives of the Andes by the Spanish conquest. His drawings from his manuscript constitute the most accurate graphic depiction of Inca and colonial Peruvian material available. Ayala wrote his manuscript, El Primer Nueva Corónica Y Buen Gobierno, in the year 1615.
Guáman Poma was born into a noble Incan family shortly after the Spanish conquest of Peru. He did not have formal training as an artist. His brother, Martin Ayala, taught him how to read and write. Guáman Poma worked as an administrator within the government of the viceroyalty. His work experience inspired him to work on behalf of other native people involved in judicial suits and to create El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno.
His work started circa 1600 and finished between the years 1612 and 1615. The manuscript contained 1,189 pages and included 398 illustrations. The Nueva corónica was intended for the King Phillip III of Spain. Guáman Poma's goal for the manuscript was to share the history of Andean Civilization and his view of the damage that had been done by the Spanish conquest.
Ayala's impact on the Latin American history field was immense. Take a look in any book about the Inca civilization now and you will more than likely find at least one of the illustrations from Ayala's manuscript. His collection of illustrations is one of the only visual depictions of the Inca civilization. His illustrations and manuscript is far reaching and extremely influential in the Latin American history field as one of the most important pieces to understanding the history of the Inca civilization and the Spanish colonial rule.