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Secondary sourcePainting19th century

Retrospective Portrait of Ferdinand Magellan

Charles-Philippe Larivière · 19th century

A 19th-century imagined portrait of Magellan by French painter Charles-Philippe Larivière, held at the Musée de l'Histoire de France.

A 19th-century imagined portrait showing how Magellan was remembered as a historical figure in France.

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Oil painting portrait of a bearded man in a dark beret and fur-trimmed dark robe over a red garment, against a grey-brown background. A number 3091 is printed in the lower left corner.
Charles-Philippe Larivière, Retrospective portrait of Ferdinand Magellan, 19th century. Musée de l'Histoire de France, Versailles.

About this source

What it is

This oil painting by Charles-Philippe Larivière shows a bearded man in a dark beret and fur-trimmed robe, identified as Ferdinand Magellan. It is a 19th-century work held at the Musée de l'Histoire de France at Versailles.

Why it matters

Painted centuries after Magellan's death, this is a 'retrospective' portrait, meaning it was created from imagination and tradition rather than from life. It reflects how 19th-century France, building a national historical museum, chose to include Magellan among the figures worth remembering as part of world history.

Look closer

  • What in the clothing and setting suggests this portrait was painted long after Magellan's own time?
  • Why might a French national history museum display a portrait of a Portuguese explorer who sailed for Spain?
  • How might this image shape what people imagine Magellan looked like, even though no one who knew him helped make it?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Ferdinand Magellan on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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De Moluccis Insulis

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