Christopher Columbus Before the Council of Salamanca is an oil-on-canvas painting by the German-American artist Emanuel Leutze, created in 1841.

[1][2] It was lent to the Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon in 2014 for its exhibition L'invention du Passé.

For this scene he took inspiration at the work of the American writer and historian Washington Irving, A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (1828; vol.

The artist depicts the episode of the reunion of a council of sages, both clergymen and laymen, held in the Convent of San Estebán, in Salamanca, at request of king Ferdinand II of Aragon, to listen the proposal of Columbus of trying to reach Asia by navigating to the West.

The Genoan navigator seems to be arguing his plan, while several clergymen, including a bishop, who appears thoughtful, listen to him, while also hearing the advice of another member of the clergy.