10.13.2008

vespucci's predecessor



In honor of Columbus Day (U.S. holiday today), I thought it appropriate to share some Spanish and Italian Vogue goodness. Courtesy of photography wizards Steven Meisel and Eugenio Recuenco.





Christopher Columbus (Cristoforo Colombo) (1451-1506) was an Italian explorer who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, hoping to find a route to India. He made a total of four trips to the Caribbean and South America during the years 1492-1504.

The First Trip:
Columbus sailed for King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Spain. On his first trip, Columbus led an expedition with three ships, the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria (captained by Columbus), and about 90 crew members. They set sail on Aug. 3, 1492 from Palos, Spain, and on October 11, 1492, spotted the Caribbean islands off southeastern North America. They landed on an island they called Guanahani, but Columbus later renamed it San Salvador. They were met by the local Taino Indians, many of whom were captured by Columbus's men and later sold into slavery. Columbus thought he had made it to Asia, and called this area the Indies, and called its inhabitants Indians. Columbus returned to Spain in the Niña, arriving on March 15, 1493.




The Second Trip:
On a second, larger expedition (1493-1496), Columbus sailed with 17 ships and 1,500 men to find gold and capture Indians as slaves in the Indies. Columbus sailed along the length of southern Cuba. He spotted and named the island of Dominica on November 3, 1493.

The Third Trip:
On a third expedition (1498-1500), Columbus sailed farther south, to Trinidad and Venezuela (including the mouth of the Orinoco River). Columbus was the first European since the Viking Leif Ericsson to set foot on the mainland of America.



The Fourth Trip:
On this last expedition (1402-1504), Columbus sailed to Mexico, Honduras and Panama (in Central America) and Santiago (Jamaica).

Did you know? Columbus is buried in eastern Hispaniola (now called the Dominican Republic).



:eugenio recuenco, steven meisel

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful photos ... and some sobering history lessons ...

Lori

Jane Flanagan said...

Beautiful images. Your posts are always so strikingly original. Love it!

And thanks for all your gorgeous comments lately. You make my day :)

AshleyL. said...

what gorgeous and inspiring fairytale photography!

tangobaby said...

It's so disconcerting when I come back to read a comment that I thought I had left but then realized I imagined it.

I think your blog's images leave me giddy and sometimes I forget to leave a comment while in my reverie.

And now I should probably go back and read what you've written here since I am now admitting that I only ogled your images...