Andrés Sánchez Gallque

Andrés Sánchez Gallque painted a rare 16th-century portrait of two Afro-Ecuadorian men in colonial dress, “Los mulatos de Esmeraldas,” finished in 1599. At a time when most artists in the Andes worked on religious scenes, this oil-on-canvas stood out for its direct, dignified gaze of the sitters. The painting survives as one of the first known portraits of Africans in South America. Tap the image to zoom in on the careful folds of their clothes and the green background that frames their faces.