Au Della Des Cinq Mers

Le Carre Hermes Paris >> Printemps - Ete 1998

Beyond the Five Seas

In the 16th century, long before the beginning of what a poet called "the era of the finished world", the maritime expansion of the Portuguese overtook what up to now had been achieved by the Chinese, western Man, intoxicated by the spaces he conquered along with his fear, pushed back the limits of the universe with his sails. It was on board these legendary great ships that, in their bouyant assault on the unknown, the Magellans and the Vasco da Gamas fathomed all the riches of the lands beyond.