Nahua peoples
In 1570 Hernández was appointed Archiater physician for the New World and commended by the King to embark on a scientific expedition to study the region's medicinal plants. Hernandez set sail for the New World in August 1571, taking along his son, and landed in February 1572 in Veracruz. For three years he toured Mexico and Central America together with a geographer, painters, botanists and native doctors, collecting and classifying botanical specimens. He also studied the culture and medical achievements of the native Nahua peoples, taking notes and preparing numerous illustrations assisted by three indigenous painters who had been baptized as Antón, Baltazar Elías and Pedro Vázquez.