The Buccaneer Was a Picturesque Fellow
Date1905
Artist
Howard Pyle
(American illustrator, 1853–1911)
Illustration Citation"The Fate of a Treasure Town," by Howard Pyle, in Harper's Monthly Magazine, December 1905
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions30 1/2 x 19 1/2 in. (77.5 x 49.5 cm)
frame: 33 3/4 x 23 3/4 x 2 in. (85.7 x 60.3 x 5.1 cm)
frame: 33 3/4 x 23 3/4 x 2 in. (85.7 x 60.3 x 5.1 cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, 1912
Object number1912-31
On View
On viewClassificationsPAINTING
Label TextHoward Pyle’s pirates often have the glamorous yet threatening demeanor of this buccaneer. Although there was little visual record of what pirates actually wore, Pyle invented a dramatic costume from his ample library of historical costumes, creating a look adopted by Hollywood and still used today in films and television series. The story "The Fate of a Treasure Town" provides a glimpse into 17th-century piracy in Spanish colonial port towns. These outposts sent their acquired wealth back to the crown on convoys of the Spanish fleet. The ships were often attacked by pirates who would later divide the treasure among themselves.
