Images

This map illustrates the rise and global reach of the Portuguese Empire, the first and longest-lived of Europe’s overseas empires. Initiated in the 15th century, Portugal's expansion was driven by a desire to control trade routes to the East...

The Inca Empire (c. 13th–16th century CE) expanded from a small highland kingdom centered in Cusco into the largest pre-Columbian empire in the Americas. Emerging under leaders such as Manco Cápac and later consolidated by Pachacuti Inca...

An illustration showing the manufacture of sugar from raw sugar cane. The image may represent a scene in the West Indies, although the machinery and techniques are applicable to colonial sugar plantations in the Caribbean, South America and...

A 1727 engraving showing a harbour on the island of Principe, West Africa. São Tomé and Principe were Portuguese colonies from c. 1486 to 1975.

The 16th century São Sebastiao Fort, São Tomé, West Africa. The fort was built when the island was a Portuguese colony.

A 1665 map drawn by Johannes Vingboons of the island of São Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. The island was a Portuguese colony from c. 1486 to 1975. (National Archives of the Netherlands)

Hipparchia of Maroneia, detail of a fresco showing the Cynic philosophers Crates of Thebes and Hipparchia, c. 1st century CE. Villa Farnesina, Museo delle Terme, Rome.

Heraclitus and Democritus, Fresco transferred to canvas, by Donato Bramante, c. 1486. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.

Democritus, painting by Dosso and Battista Dossi, 1540. Pinacoteca Civica Domenico Inzaghi, Budrio.

São Francisco Church, Cidade Velha on Santiago, Cape Verde islands. Built in 1657 when the islands were a Portuguesecolony, it was restored in the early 21st century.