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Secondary sourcePainting1646

Vasco da Gama, from Livro do Estado da India Oriental

Pedro Barretto de Resende · 1646

A 1646 painted portrait of Vasco da Gama in noble dress, from a manuscript history of Portuguese India made about a century after his voyage.

A later portrait of Gama made for a Portuguese record of its Indian empire, showing how he was remembered as a noble leader.

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Painted portrait of a bearded man in a dark brown cloak trimmed with gold and chain-like embroidery, wearing a black flat cap, a striped white and gold doublet, and pink hose. He holds a wooden baton in one hand and rests a plumed helmet on a pink draped table. The caption below reads Dom Vasco da Gama. A red British Library label is in the lower right corner.
Pedro Barretto de Resende, Vasco da Gama, from Livro do Estado da India Oriental, 1646. British Library.

About this source

What it is

This is a painted portrait of Vasco da Gama, made in 1646 by Pedro Barretto de Resende as part of his manuscript Livro do Estado da India Oriental, a record of the Portuguese state in India. It is now held by the British Library.

Why it matters

Made about a century after Gama's famous voyage, this image shows how the Portuguese remembered him as a noble figure of state importance. It reflects how later generations in the Portuguese empire wanted to picture their great explorer, rather than showing exactly what he looked like in life.

Look closer

  • What details of clothing and objects suggest status and military rank?
  • Since this was painted long after Gama died, what might the artist have imagined rather than known?
  • Why might a 17th-century record of Portuguese India want to include a portrait of Gama?

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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