By bringing together more than 160 extraordinary masterpieces, this exhibition has the purpose to explore the unity and diversity of the cultures that contributed to Portugal's trading empire. From Africa to Brazil passing trough China, Japan and the Indian Ocean, it provides a wide-ranging and unforgettable image of the new world's great age of discovery. If the centrepiece of this event will focus more on Portugal itself, on the tracks of the Portuguese conquests between old maps, navigational instruments and manuscripts, the main interest of this exhibition remains in its indubitable diversity.