Images

A modern statue in Panama City of Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475-1519), the Spanish conquistador who famously discovered the Pacific Ocean after crossing the isthmus of Panama in 1513.

A 19th-century portrait of Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475-1519), the Spanish conquistador who famously discovered the Pacific Ocean after crossing the isthmus of Panama in 1513. (Naval Museum of Madrid)

Statue of Pedro Álvares Cabral (1467/1468 to c. 1520) in Lisbon, Portugal.

From Egypt. 5th-6th century CE. Made from copper alloy. (Hellenic Museum, Melbourne, Victoria).

From the Monastery of St Menas, Abu Mina, Egypt. 6th-7th century CE. Made from clay. (Hellenic Museum, Melbourne, Victoria).

From a workshop in Upper Egypt. The Greek inscription says "The Holy and Consubstantial Trinity Amen." 4th-5th century CE. Made from clay. (Hellenic Museum, Melbourne, Victoria).

From Egypt. 5th-7th century CE. Made from bone and paint. (Hellenic Museum, Melbourne, Victoria).

From Egypt. 5th-7th century CE. Made from wood. (Hellenic Museum, Melbourne, Victoria).

Zeus is seated behind an eagle, one of the god's attributes. This iconographic type is unknown in Greece and draws its inspiration from a motif of oriental origin, of a god mounted on a bird. From Egypt. Mid-2nd century CE. Made from...

Magical gem depicting a pregnant woman squatting naked over a birthing stool. Late Roman Eastern Mediterranean, 3rd century CE. The British Museum, London.