The print portrays the famed Italian navigator Christopher Columbus who took part in voyages on the Mediterranean Sea and along the Atlantic European coast. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean and reached the Americas on October 12, 1492, and thereby was granted titles by the Spanish monarchy for his exploration and conquest of the New World. In this portrait, Columbus firmly stands on the shore with the sea behind him. He is shown full-length, elaborately dressed with his plumed hat in one hand and his sword leaning on his hip. Three gentlemen stand behind him, including a Catholic priest holding the Bible and a long wooden cross.

David Edwin, who made this engraving, arrived in America in 1797 and was employed by the famed portrait painter and engraver, Edward Savage. It was made after Savage’s painted portrait of this iconic navigator, which was on view in his New York gallery in 1810. Savage based his image on a full-length portrait of Columbus that he saw in Italy in 1791, when he probably studied under Benjamin West in London that same year.