Pocahontas (c.1595–1617)

Pocahontas c. 1595–1617 | Born near present-day Richmond, Virginia (left image)  Unidentified artist, after Simon van de Passe | Oil on canvas, after 1616 | Transfer from the National Gallery of Art; gift of the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, 1942 (right image) Simon van de Passe, 1595–1647 | Engraving on paper, 1616

Pocahontas (also known as Matoaka) grew up in coastal Virginia among a confederacy of Algonquian-speaking Powhatan people overseen by her father, the paramount chief. After John Smith and other representatives of the Virginia Company of London established a settlement at Jamestown, she sometimes served as an intermediary. In 1613, however, the colonists kidnapped and ransomed her for corn, guns, and prisoners. While in captivity, Pocahontas was converted to Christianity, took the baptismal name Rebecca, and married the tobacco farmer John Rolfe. Their son, Thomas, was born in 1615. Eager to publicize Pocahontas’s apparent assimilation as a means of attracting investors, the Virginia Company transported her to England, where she arrived in June 1616.

This engraving was created in England for the Bazilioologia: A Booke of Kings (1618), a collection of British monarchs and notables, and depicts Pocahontas as an affluent Englishwoman. Inscriptions proclaim her elite lineage, Christian religion, and marital status (confusing her son’s name with her husband’s). Pocahontas took ill and died nine months after arriving in England. Over the next 400 years, her brief life would inspire many fanciful legends, including a fictitious romance with John Smith.

• Compare and contrast these two portraits of Pocahontas. Identify the similarities and differences.
• One of these images is based on life, and the other is a copy. Can you tell me which is which? How do you know?
• Why should we closely examine these two portraits of Pocahontas together?