Plate 3. This plate illustrates Amerigo Vespucci on his Ship. At the centre Vespucci stands on deck and the central mast has been broken. The Vespucci coat-of-arms is attached to the front mast. To the right Minerva (the god of Science) is represented carrying the gorgon shield and guiding the boat.  In the background, a warrior is riding on a tortoise pulled by four lions. And to the left, two sea creatures are carrying the limbs of drowned men.

Inscriptions in Latin. On image: 'AMERI. VESPVC.' In margin: 'AMERICVS VESPVCCIVS FLORENTINVS portentosa...consensus nominavit. An. Sal. ? .IIID.', '3.'

Americae Retectio (The Discovery of America), is a series of four plates (a picture atlas) commemorating the sucessive 'discoveries' of America by Christopher Columbus, Americus Vespucci and Ferdinand Magellan. In terms of artistic makers: the plates were designed by Stradanus, engraved by Collaert, and originally published by Philip Galle around 1589. Born in Bruges in 1523, Stradanus was a versatile, 16th century mannerist artist who worked across a range of mediums and spent most of his artistic career in Florence. Three editions of Americae Retectio have been published: the first and last were issued from the original plates, with the second edition, issued in the early 17th century, being re-engraved by Mateo Florimi and published in the Speculum in 1638.