Hans Pothorst

[1] In 1925, researcher Sofus Larsen proposed that Pothhorst may have landed in North America, along with Didrik Pining, in the 1470s, almost twenty years before Columbus' voyages of discovery.

[1] Sometime in the 1470s, Pining, Pothorst and Corte-Real were sent by King Christian I of Denmark on a naval expedition to the North-Atlantic.

[1] During the later years of the reign of Christian I, Pothorst and Pining are said to have distinguished themselves "not less as capable seamen than as matchless freebooters.

"[9] Pothorst's home in Denmark is presumed to have been Helsingør, where his coat of arms and a simple portrait were painted (possibly shortly after his death)[3] among eight ceiling frescoes in the local St. Mary's Church.

The ceiling ensemble remains one of the most celebrated 15th century Danish artworks, and if Pothorst funded its creation as it has been assumed, historians note that he must have been rather wealthy.

Helsingør church painting of Hans Pothorst [ 1 ] and his coat of arms, c. 1493. The banner held by the man to the right says Hans Pothorst , and the one to the left says Dellf maler ("Dellf painter"). [ 2 ]