Vatican discovers first ever depiction of Native Americans hidden under 500 years of soot in ancient painting

In an ancient painting tucked away in the Vatican, preservationists have discovered what is believed to be the first ever depiction of the Native Americans that Christopher Columbus encountered during his first trip to the New World.

The discovery was made while preservationists were cleaning away centuries of soot from a painting by the Renaissance master Pinturicchio, says Antonio Paolucci, the director of the Vatican Museum.

Paolucci announced the find in the Vatican's newsletter, according to the Telegraph. The depiction shows naked men dancing in feathered headdresses. A man on horseback is also visible.

History: The painting found in the Vatican (pictured) dates back to 1494, which was one year after Columbus retued from his first trip to the Americas

The scene appears above the image of an open marble casket from which Christ has risen. 

Paolucci says the painting dates back to 1494, which was one year after Columbus retued from his first trip to the Americas.

The depiction matches Columbus's account of being greeted by naked men who painted themselves in red and black and danced for the European explorers on the coast of what he believed to be Easte Asia.

Paolucci suggests that the images were inspired by Columbus's travels. He reasons that tales of Columbus's travels would have been shared at the Vatican because the trips were commissioned by Spain and at the time, the pope - Alexander VI - was Spanish. 

'The Borgia Pope was interested in the New World, as were the great chancelleries of Europe,' Paolucci says in the article. 'It is hard to believe that the papal court, especially under a Spanish pope, would have remained in the dark about what Columbus encountered.'

 

Explorer: The depiction matches Christopher Columbus's (pictured) account of being greeted by naked men who painted themselves in red and black and danced for the European explorers

Hidden: The painting has been hanging in the Vatican's Borgia Apartments for five centuries and the scene was only just discovered because it had been buried under hundreds of years of dust and soot

Honor: A Navajo man is pictured in 1904 in ceremonial dress as Nayenezgani, a Navajo deity

Paolucci believes that the inspiration for the depiction came from Columbus's first trip to the Americas, which began in August 1942. During that voyage, Columbus is believed to have landed on an island in the Bahamas - which at the time he though was Easte Asia.

When he retued to Spain in March of 1943, news of his discoveries spread like wildfire through Europe.

'What if the early impression of those naked men, good and even happy, who gave parrots as gifts and painted their bodies black and red, came to life in the small dancing figurines in the background of Pinturicchio's Resurrection?' Paolucci wrote.

The painting has been hanging in the Vatican's Borgia Apartments for five centuries and the scene was only just discovered because it had been buried under hundreds of years of dust and soot.