Study for "The Landing of Columbus on San Salvador, October 12, 1492": Roderigo Sánchez of Segovia

Study for "The Landing of Columbus on San Salvador, October 12, 1492": Roderigo Sánchez of Segovia

John Vanderlyn

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Vanderlyn made numerous figure and costume studies for his monumental painting “The Landing of Columbus on San Salvador, October 12, 1492,” executed in Paris in 1839-46 for the United States Capitol. Vanderlyn relied primarily on Washington’s Irving’s biography of Columbus for the cast of characters he assembled in his painting. In Irving’s history, Roderigo Sanchez is identified as the controller, or accountant, of the 1492 voyage, and in the painting is shown behind Columbus in a large hat and cloak, thoughtfully appraising the strange New World.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Study for "The Landing of Columbus on San Salvador, October 12, 1492": Roderigo Sánchez of SegoviaStudy for "The Landing of Columbus on San Salvador, October 12, 1492": Roderigo Sánchez of SegoviaStudy for "The Landing of Columbus on San Salvador, October 12, 1492": Roderigo Sánchez of SegoviaStudy for "The Landing of Columbus on San Salvador, October 12, 1492": Roderigo Sánchez of SegoviaStudy for "The Landing of Columbus on San Salvador, October 12, 1492": Roderigo Sánchez of Segovia

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.