Libros de viajes, libros de trajes. Singularidad y tipificación del repertorio iconográfico americano en el siglo XVI

This article differentiates the production of a singular iconographic repertoire on America from its ethno-iconographic use in the costume books produced in the second half of the 16th century. Firstly, it examines the way in which the experience of travelers in America was “translated” into texts and images intelligible to the European reader. Then, it focuses on the second of the intellectual operations mentioned, as it analyzes the presence of images of New World in new chains of reference and meaning. The incorporation of American iconography in costume books reveals their potentiality and limitations as visual and global devices of early-modern knowledge.