Frontispiece from De wonderlyke reizen van Fernando Mendez Pinto

The lengthy title of this book explains the choice of the three leading figures in the illustration: Fortune (middle), Prosperity (left), and Adversity (right). Pinto, the protagonist of this book, had wandered around the world for 21 years and experienced many changes of fortune. He recounted that he had been imprisoned on 13 occasions and sold a total of 17 times.

Frontispiece from De wonderlyke reizen van Fernando Mendez Pinto

The lengthy title of this book explains the choice of the three leading figures in the illustration: Fortune (middle), Prosperity (left), and Adversity (right). Pinto, the protagonist of this book, had wandered around the world for 21 years and experienced many changes of fortune. He recounted that he had been imprisoned on 13 occasions and sold a total of 17 times.