There are also touch screens with narrations and images, along with displays of exceptional documents, including the only known copy of a famous 1507 map: the first to show the New World’s continents and the first on which the name America appears.

Turn to the adjacent interactive monitor to rotate a beautifully detailed image of the vase, which you can enlarge and move around with a touch of the finger...Eight mural-size paintings, called ‘The Conquest of Mexico,’ depict Hernán Cortés’s 1519–1522 mission of subjugation. Created by an unknown artist in the last quarter of the 17th century, the paintings glorify the Spanish empire. They include detailed sub-scenes set into the large drama, like sidebars telling the back story—just as the accompanying interactive displays illuminate the events and characters portrayed in the work.