- Landing of Christopher Columbus
Sheet: 27 3/8 × 17 1/16 in. (69.5 × 43.3 cm)
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The print portrays the famed Italian navigator Christopher Columbus, who crossed the Atlantic Ocean and reached the Americas on October 12, 1492, receiving titles from 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 a plumed hat in one hand and his sword leaning on his hip. Three figures 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. Edwin based the print on Savage’s painted portrait of Columbus, 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.
ProvenanceThe Old Print Shop, Inc., New York, as of 2013; to the MFAH, October 2013.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below plate, center: The Landing of Christopher Columbus
Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below plate, right: Engraved by D. Edwin.
Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below plate, center: On the Morning of October 12th, 1492. COLUMBUS RICHLY DRESS'D with a Drawn Sword in his hand / First set his on the NEW WORLD, which He had Discovered. The Portrait of Columbus is Copied from / The Original Picture in the Collection of GRAND DUKE of TUSCANY at FLORENCE
Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below plate, center bottom edge: Philada [a in superscript, underlined] Publish'd by E. Savage Jany [y in superscript, underlined] 1st_1800_.
Verso: Inscribed in graphite, left bottom edge: 986924
Frame Verso: Inscribed in graphite, bottom edge: as spilt, (w/ insert F&H), and illegible text written upside down along the bottom.
Frame Verso: Stamped in printed ink, top left and right: 9395
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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