Amerigo Vespucci
The bronze bust of Amerigo Vespucci is a gift from Italy to Brazil and was conceived by the sculptor Roberto Joppolo as a tribute to the Italian navigator able to map a big part of the Brazilian coastline. The navigator’s features are represented in bronze thanks to accurate researches of historical documents on Vespucci (from the XV and XVI centuries) in museums and libraries. The character is represented in an austere attitude, with clothing in line with the rich Florentine navigator social status: his head is slightly turned to the right, looking away as investigating in the future and his left hand holds a parchment confirming his primacy in that era cartography sciences. The bust, made of bronze with wax casting, is 90 cm tall and was placed in Brasilia, in front of the Italian Embassy on 19 September 2000, with a solemn ceremony attended by the Brazilian
