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Secondary sourcePainting1838

Vasco da Gama, c.1460-1524

António Manuel da Fonseca · 1838

An 1838 portrait by António Manuel da Fonseca imagining Vasco da Gama as a heroic Portuguese explorer, now at Greenwich.

This idealised 19th-century portrait is one of the best-known images used to represent da Gama, though painted long after his death.

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Half-length painted portrait of a bearded man in a black velvet cap with gold trim, a white lace collar, a red mantle over a steel breastplate, and striped slashed black sleeves. He holds a sword and dagger, with a harbour and fortified tower in the background.
António Manuel da Fonseca, Vasco da Gama, c.1460-1524, 1838. Royal Museums Greenwich.

About this source

What it is

This is an oil portrait painted in 1838 by the Portuguese artist António Manuel da Fonseca, showing Vasco da Gama in armour with a red mantle, holding a sword and dagger, and wearing the cross of the Military Order of Christ. It is held at Royal Museums Greenwich and is thought to be a copy of an earlier Portuguese original.

Why it matters

Painted more than three centuries after da Gama's death, this is not a true likeness but a 19th-century idea of what a great explorer should look like. It was bought for Greenwich's naval gallery to sit alongside portraits of British sailors, showing how European nations in the 1800s built up heroic images of earlier explorers to celebrate maritime achievement.

Look closer

  • Since no one alive in 1838 had seen da Gama, where might the artist have gotten ideas for his face and costume?
  • Why would a British naval museum want a portrait of a Portuguese explorer?
  • What does the armour, sword and order of honour suggest about how da Gama was meant to be remembered?

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

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Painted portrait of a bearded man in a black cloak and black hat, holding a staff in his left hand and a sword hilt at his waist. Behind him is a shield with red and white stripes and a Portuguese coat of arms. The gold-colored inscription at top reads Dovasço da Gama Visoreie Comde.Painting

Secondary source

Vasco da Gama, Livro de Lisuarte de Abreu

Livro de Lisuarte de Abreu (compiler unknown) · c. 1565

A black line-drawn autograph signature on white background, with a stylized flourish above and an underline stroke beneath, running across the image from left to right.Document

Secondary source

Signature of Vasco da Gama

Vasco da Gama

A tall tapering white stone pillar topped with a stone cross stands on a raised circular platform by the sea. Two people sit on a low wall at left, and others sit near the right side under a partly cloudy blue sky.Artifact

Primary source

Vasco da Gama Pillar

1498 or 1499

Hand-painted portolan-style world map on parchment showing the Atlantic, Africa, and parts of Asia and the Americas, with compass roses, rhumb lines, colored flags, and Latin and Portuguese place labels.Document

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Cantino Planisphere

Anonymous Portuguese cartographer · 1502

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