The incomparable Christopher Columbus, credited by many as the first European to discover America, despite having been beaten to it by the Vikings some 500 years previously and despite not actually recognising that America even existed. (Til his death he believed he had reached East Asia.) He died in Spain in 1506 having been brought home in chains six years earlier to answer for various atrocities committed against the natives. 

No known authentic portrait of Columbus exists, so I’ve referenced a posthumous effort by Ghirlandaio for this. I like the look of this small, petulant, round-headed man, although contemporary reports describe him as a vast, 6-foot curiosity in an age of short men.