Sven is wearing the family crest of Cristoforo Colombo (1451-1506) with the added phrase "Admiral of the Ocean Sea" -- the title the endlessly arrogant explorer requested from Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand.
Sven's hat is inspired by the Ridolfo Ghirlandaio portrait (Google it!) -- but we don't know what C.C. actually looked like, much less what hats he wore. Since no contemporary portraits exist, I say Sven is as good a model for C.C. as anyone!
At his elbow is a copy of the 1490 map possibly created by C.C. and his brother in Lisbon -- the point being that there was nothing better to guide him on his voyage a couple years later (www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/LMwebpages/257.html). There's also a translation of his journal entry for the day he and his crew landed in the New World, though they didn't know where they actually were...
Yes, the little globe in a ball-and-chain in front of Sven is a political statement. Deal with it. See www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-kasum/columbus-day-a-bad-idea_b_742708.html or if you have the stomach for it, read more horrific detail at the bottom portion of www.thirdworldtraveler.com/History/Hero-making_LMTTM.html.
"Columbus's claim to fame isn't that he got there first, it's that he stayed." --historian Martin Dugard
--Andre
1 comment:
Prior to PETA in 1400, we should have had PETH -- People for Ethical Treatment of Humans. Columbus treated the Indians a lot like treatment of animals on today's factory farms. What a guy.
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