Engraving of Amazon warrior women in de Bry's India Orientalis series, Regnum Congo, hoc est...

This is an illustration from Regnum Congo, hoc est Vera descriptio Regni Africani (The Kingdom of Congo, that is a True Description of the Kingdom of the People of Africa). Regnum Congo contains a Latin translation of Filippo Pigafetta’s account of the Portuguese Odoardo Lopez’s expedition to central Africa in 1578. It is illustrated with engraved plates by the de Bry family. The book was the first part of Belgian engraver Theodor de Bry’s Petits Voyages series, also known as the ‘India Orientalis’ series. The series was published between 1597 and 1633, with de Bry’s sons continuing the work after their father’s death in 1598. This engraving shows a band of ‘Amazon’ women warriors fighting a male army. The women are naked and armed with bows and arrows, spears and rocks. One of the male warriors has been killed by an arrow to the chest. In the foreground is a solitary woman depicted with bow and arrows, long flowing hair and a single breast – an example of the Amazon warrior woman. In the middle ground in front of the battle is a pubescent girl having her breast removed by two other women (Amazon warriors were believed to remove one breast in order to aid their archery).