GHIRLANDAIO, Ridolfo
(b. 1483, Firenze, d. 1561, Firenze)

Portrait of Christopher Columbus

c. 1525
Panel
Museo Navale, Genoa

Christopher Columbus (c. 1450-1506) was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonizer, citizen of the Republic of Genoa. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. Those voyages, and his efforts to establish permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola, initiated the Spanish colonization of the New World.