Christopher Columbus - Popular Culture

Popular Culture

Columbus, an important historical figure, has been depicted in fiction, cinema and television, and in other media and entertainment, such as stage plays, music, cartoons and games.

In games
  • Christopher Columbus appears as a Great Explorer in the 2008 strategy video game, Civilization Revolution.
In literature
  • In 1889, American author Mark Twain based the time traveler's trick in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court on Columbus's successful prediction of a lunar eclipse during his fourth voyage to the New World.
  • In 1941 the British author Rafael Sabatini published a novel Columbus, based on a screenplay he had written for a planned film. The story provided the inspiration for the 1949 film about Columbus.
  • In 1958, the Italian playwright Dario Fo wrote a satirical play about Columbus titled Isabella, tre caravelle e un cacciaballe (Isabella, three tall ships and a con man). In 1997 Fo was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. The play was translated into English in 1988 by Ed Emery and is downloadable on the internet.
  • In 1991, author Salman Rushdie published a fictional representation of Columbus in The New Yorker, "Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain Consummate Their Relationship, Santa Fe, January, 1492".
  • In Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus (1996) science fiction novelist Orson Scott Card focuses on Columbus's life and activities, but the novel's action also deals with a group of scientists from the future who travel back to the 15th century with the goal of changing the pattern of European contact with the Americas.
  • British author Stephen Baxter includes Columbus's quest for royal sponsorship as a crucial historical event in his 2007 science fiction novel Navigator (ISBN 978-0-441-01559-7), the third entry in the author's Time's Tapestry Series.
  • American novelist Steve Berry's 2012 book The Columbus Affair revolves around the premise that Columbus's voyages held a secret purpose, with clues to an ancient Jewish treasure.
In music
  • Christopher Columbus is regularly referred to by singers and musical groups in the Rastafari movement as an example of a European oppressor. The detractors include Burning Spear (Christopher Columbus), Culture (Capture Rasta), and Peter Tosh (You Can't Blame The Youth, Here Comes The Judge).
On Screen
  • Christopher Columbus is a 1949 film starring Fredric March as Columbus.
  • The 1985 TV mini-series, Christopher Columbus, features Gabriel Byrne as Columbus.
  • Columbus was portrayed by Gérard Depardieu in the 1992 film by Ridley Scott, 1492: Conquest of Paradise. Scott presented Columbus as a forward-thinking idealist, as opposed to the view that he was ruthless and responsible for the misfortune of Native Americans.
  • Carry On Columbus is a 1992 comedy.
  • Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, is a 1992 biographical film by Alexander Salkind.
  • The 42nd episode of The Sopranos, entitled "Christopher" (2002), addresses the controversies surrounding Columbus's legacy from the perspectives of numerous identity group members.
In sculpture
  • Isabella and Columbus by Larkin Mead, 1874, California State Capitol, Sacramento, California
  • Christopher Columbus, by Moses Jacob Ezekiel, Arrigo Park, Chicago. Illinois, 1891
  • Drake Fountain, also known as the Columbus Monument by Richard Henry Park, Chicago, Illinois, 1892
  • Christopher Columbus by Ferdinand von Miller the Younger, St. Louis, Missouri, 1884, This work is different from most in that it shows a bearded Columbus. It is believed to be the first bronze statue of Columbus in the United States.
  • Colossal Columbus statue by Mary Lawrence, 1893, at the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Illinois,
  • Columbus by Paul Wayland Bartlett ca. 1895 Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
  • Christopher Columbus Memorial by Pietro Piai 1904, Pueblo, Colorado. "Colorado was the first state to make Columbus Day a legal holiday in 1905 and this is reportedly the first monument to Columbus erected in the United States."
  • Christopher Columbus, by Augusto Rivalta, Detroit, Michigan, 1910,
  • Columbus Fountain, by Lorado Taft, 1912, Washington D.C.
  • Christopher Columbus, by Virgil Rainer, Chicago, Illinois, 1924
  • Christopher Columbus by Charles Brioschi, assisted by Leo Lentelli, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1931
  • Christopher Columbus by Charles Brioschi, Grant Park (Chicago), 1933
  • Christopher Columbus, by Frank Vittor, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 1958
  • Christopher Columbus Monument by David W. Oswald, Columbus, Wisconsin, 1988
In space
  • Asteroid 327 Columbia is named in his honour.

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