Mining, Money and Markets in the Early Modern Atlantic: Digital Approaches and New Perspectives

In 1635, in Antwerp, the Flemish diplomat and court painter Peter Paul Rubens designed and constructed an “Arch of the Mint” (Fig. 1.1) for the ceremonial entry of Cardinal Infante Ferdinand, (Ferdinand of Spain and Portugal (Spanish: Fernando de Austria; 1609/1610–1641), the third son of Philipp III of Spain, since 1619 administrator of the archbishopric of Toledo and cardinal, since 1620 archbishop of Toledo, therefore known as Cardinal Infante; 1632–1633 Viceroy of Catalonia, 1633–1634 governor of the duchy of Milan; 1633–1641 governor of the Spanish Low Countries.) the new governor of the Spanish Low Countries, who the year before had won a resounding victory at the battle of Nördlingen. For this Joyeuse Entrée, Rubens composed a collection of allegorical images linking mining and money on both sides of the Atlantic: miners, resembling those in the woodcuts of Georg Agricola, supposed to represent indigenous workers at the silver-rich mountain of Potosí in modern Bolivia; Vulcan forging coins and medals, fuelling commerce in the city of Antwerp; American parrots and monkeys; and Jason and Medea seeking the Golden Fleece.