Plate 14 of 'Historia de la marina real espa̱ola episodios maritimos' lithographed by J. J. Martinez and others. The print depicts the naval engagement of the Battle of Preveza (spelled "Previsa" in the inscription) on the west coast of Greece north of Levkas. It was the most important naval battle of the Venetian-Ottoman War of 1527-40. The defeat of Charles V's fleet secured the eastern Mediterranean for the Turks until their defeat at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571.
On 27 September 1538, a fleet of galleys under the flags of Venice, Genoa, and Spain was defeated by an Ottoman fleet under the command of Barbarossa. As part of a book chronicling important maritime episodes of Spain, the print is titled, "El Her�_ico Suceso de Machin de Mungu�_a" or, "The Heroic success of Manchin de Mungu�_a." The Spainaird, Manchine de Mungu�_a, fought alongside Andrea Doria, a Genoese captain commanding the multi-nation fleet against the Ottomans. Despite the Ottoman victory, the print's description below the scene accentuates the bravado of the Spanish captain for tenaciously defending his dismembered and demasted ship despite being outnumbered by the enemy.
In the center of the print, a demasted Spanish galleon, flying the Cross of Burgundy flag (a red, jagged-edged saltire on a white field) vigorously fires at an Ottoman ship, identified by the flag with the crescent on green field, on left side of the print. The hull of an overturned and broken ship is in the foreground.
The complete digitized bound series can be found at the Biblioteca de Catalunya: http://mdc.cbuc.cat/cdm/ref/collection/materialsBC/id/5755
