LILI BERNARD
Fine Artist
Honoring Father God, Mother Nature & the Human Race
 
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Hatuey

"The Burning of Hatuey: Cuba's First National Hero"

Oil on Canvas 30 “ x 24 ”

© 2007 Lili Bernard

Original & Gliceé Prints Available for Purchase

Hatuey was a Taino chief from the island of Hispaniola which is now known as Haiti.  The Taino were part of the Arawak who were indigenous people of the Caribbean, believed to have migrated to the islands from South America.

Hatuey, with a band of about 400 natives, traveled by canoe from island to island, warning natives of the Spaniard's evil deeds against the native Caribbean people.

In Cuba, Hatuey and his band of men valiantly fought the Spaniards and succeeded in confining them at their fort in Baracao. Hatuey was eventually caught.  The Spaniards burnt him alive at the stake.

Bartolomé de las Casas, who was the editor of Christopher Columbus' published journal, was Spain's court-appointed priest of the New World.  Empathetic to the plight of the natives in Cuba and throughout the Caribbean, De Las wrote that Hatuey showed Cubans a basket full of gold and jewels and said,

"Here is the God the Spaniards worship. For these they fight and kill; for these they persecute us and that is why we have to throw them into the sea... They tell us, these tyrants, that they adore a God of peace and equality, and yet they usurp our land and make us their slaves. They speak to us of an immortal soul and of their eternal rewards and punishments, and yet they rob our belongings, seduce our women, violate our daughters. Incapable of matching us in valor, these cowards cover themselves with iron that our weapons cannot break..."

Before Hatuey was burnt alive at the stake, a priest showed Hatuey a cross and asked him if he would accept Jesus as his Savior in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Hatuey asked the priest "Are there people like you in heaven?" After the priest assured Hatuey that there were such people in heaven, Hatuey replied that he wanted nothing to do with a God who allowed such malice to be propagated in His name. Hatuey has since been revered as "Cuba's First National Hero."

In my painting I attempted to show the multi-dimensional nature of the sinners' conscious.  In the Spanish soldier facing front, I tried to make an expression of guilt and wanting repentance.  On the priest's face, I attempted to show frustration, shame and anger at his own evil participation in a most wicked deed which he knew had sprung from greed and malice.

I tried to make Hatuey's face convey that he was surrendering his spirit to God in prayer.  The bird which is flying past Hatuey is the Tocororo, which is the national bird of Cuba.  The foliage around Hatuey includes the ubiquitous Flamboyante tree of the Caribbean (whose flowers resemble fire), the plantain (which is a staple in Caribbean diet), and the Mariposa (Cuba's national flower).

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