The Italian explorer, Christopher Columbus leaves on his fourth and final voyage, on or around, May 8, 1502, to the New World from Cádiz, Spain, hoping to find a passage to Asia, with four ships and 140 men, including his brother Bartholomew and his son Fernando (Ferdinand). Columbus was born in Genoa in 1451 and died on May 20, 1506 at age 54 in in Valladolid, Spain.
Columbus fourth trip was a desperate, unsuccessful attempt to find a western passage to Asia, but his fleet was decimated by hurricanes and shipworms, leaving him marooned for over a year in Jamaica before returning to Spain in 1504.
Note: Some sources list the start of Columbus fourth trip to have started sometime between May 4 to May 11, 1502.
The image shown is of a portrait executed in the first half of the sixteenth century after the death of Columbus. It is displayed in a showcase of the Museum of the sea and navigation of Genoa, "It Padiglione del Mare e della Navigazione."
The artist, Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, was the son of Domenico Ghirlandaio. He is also known as Ridolfo Bigordi. Ghirlandaio never lived in Spain and it is unlikely that he ever met with the Admiral.
