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Secondary sourcePainting19th century

Vasco Núñez de Balboa, image from De Aardbol magazine

19th century

A Dutch engraving from a 19th-century geography magazine showing Balboa sighting the Pacific Ocean.

This Dutch magazine illustration depicts Balboa's famous sighting of the Pacific Ocean.

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Engraved illustration titled 'Balboa ontwaart de Zuidzee' showing a man in a cloak and hat standing on a rocky hilltop, arms raised, facing a distant sea under a hatched sky. Dense line-engraving style, Dutch caption below.
Balboa ontwaart de Zuidzee, from De Aardbol, vol. 10. British Library.

About this source

What it is

This engraving, titled 'Balboa ontwaart de Zuidzee' ('Balboa discovers the South Sea'), comes from the Dutch geography magazine De Aardbol. It shows a man on a hilltop looking out toward a distant sea. The image is held by the British Library.

Why it matters

Published long after Balboa's death, this illustration shows how his discovery became a popular subject for educational and geographic publications across Europe, spreading his story to Dutch readers in the 19th century.

Look closer

  • What does the pose of the man with raised arms suggest about how the moment of discovery is being presented?
  • Why might a Dutch magazine include an image of a Spanish explorer's achievement?
  • How does this image compare with other depictions of the same event?

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

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