From the collection of the Gioviana Gallery of Cossio, this is considered to be the most authentic portrait of Christopher Columbus.
Last month’s action by the Randolph Board of Education to replace Columbus Day — a federal holiday since 1934 observed on the second Monday in October — with Indigenous People’s Day upset Italians and others in the town and across the state.
That prompted the Italian American ONE VOICE Coalition to get involved. The group, based in the Bloomfield hometown of its New Jersey founder, has been taking an active role in the continuing controversy over the 15th century explorer’s legacy.