Oil on wood panel; 46"x48"; c.2002
The conquest of Mexico by Cortez in 1519 was accomplished with 500 men, 20 horses and 4 cannon. The vast majority of the fighting, dying, plundering and destruction was done by Tlaxcala and other tribes who rose against their Aztec overlords. The rape of the indigenous people of the New World happened without a European in sight.