Portrait of Ferdinand Magellan

What it is

This oil painting shows a bearded man in a dark cap and robe, wearing a red and white cross medal and holding a rolled document. It is a copy of an older portrait, possibly tracing back to a 16th-century painting attributed to the school of a Florentine court painter. The version shown is a cut-out variant of a copy held in the Naval Museum of Madrid.

Why it matters

No portrait of Magellan made during his lifetime survives, so this image — created and copied after his death — became the standard way people pictured him for centuries. It shaped how later generations imagined the explorer, even though its accuracy cannot be confirmed.

Look closer

• Why might artists and publishers want a portrait of Magellan even though none was made while he was alive?
• What do the objects he holds and wears suggest about how the artist wanted him to be seen?
• How might repeated copying of a portrait change small details over time?