Official portrait of Captain James Cook
by DANCE-HOLLAND, Nathaniel, Oil on canvas, 127 x 102 cm
Captain James Cook (1728-1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy. Cook made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.