The good reputation he enjoyed in the small community of Dieppe quickly spread to many cultural, nautical, and scientific circles, and was even praised by those close to the King. The Sovereign himself held him in high regard, waiting for the right moment to meet him. The opportunity soon came, and their first meeting was followed by others, increasingly frequent, and his presence at court was welcome both during meetings of diplomats and high officials, and during simple and lively family conversations, in which Florentine humor always seasoned the remarks that made him pleasant and a friend to all.

The stories of the voyages and riches brought from overseas by Columbus and Vespucci reached the French Court, which until then had kept itself apart from such ventures. It was Giovanni, in an official meeting between 1522 and 1523 in the city of Rouen with His Majesty Francis I, who impressed upon the King the need and urgency to undertake exploratory voyages to reach the wealthy markets of Asia by sailing westward.

The proposals of the Verrazzano family were fully accepted, and a fleet of four ships was immediately outfitted under Giovanni’s personal direction. The defensive weapons, ammunition, bombards, rowers, lifeboats, and scientific instruments were all perfectly in order; the holds contained provisions for eight months; the pilots, experts, and signalmen were all bold sailors chosen by Captain Giovanni himself. The flagship, a “carrack” with one hundred and fifty crewmen, was named “Dolphin” in honor of the King’s firstborn, while the other three caravels were called Normanda, Santa Maria and Vittoria.

Finally, around mid-1523 the expedition set sail from France but, due to a storm, two caravels—the Santa Maria and the Vittoria—soon sank, and the third was severely damaged and unable to continue, so it was sent back: only the flagship, larger and stronger, remained able to face the ocean.

The Dolphin hid among the cliffs of Madeira and waited for the right moment to evade the naval blockade of the Spanish and Portuguese enemies, taking to the sea during the night of January 17, 1524. According to the calculations carefully traced on his map, he expected to find, by sailing along the northern coasts of the New World, a free, safe, and short passage that could lead from the great ocean into the Pacific “Sea” toward Cathay (China).

The crossing lasted fifty days, longer than expected due to a devastating storm on February 24, which Verrazzano says they survived “only with the help of God.” The Dolphin sighted land on the 7th or 8th of March in a place scholars identify as Cape Fear, south of Wilmington.

Giovanni first headed south in search of a landing place, reaching the northern extremity of Florida, then reversed course and sailed north. Continuing always in sight of the coast, where at night he saw many fires, the navigator observed stretches of woods with wild vines along the shore inhabited by fair-skinned people, a beach which for its pleasantness he named “Arcadia.”

It is difficult today to say precisely which place Verrazzano called Arcadia, but the identification of the region he reached beyond that is certain. Verrazzano himself describes it as “a very large river whose mouth was deep, where any cargo ship could enter,” adding that “said river extends about half a league inland, forming a beautiful lake. The vast body of water was teeming with indigenous boats.” It was April 17, 1524, and the Navigator had entered New York Bay. Verrazzano had passed through the strait now called “The Narrows” into the upper bay, which he named Santa Margherita after the sister of Francis I.

He landed at the tip of Manhattan, and perhaps at the far coast of Long Island. Giovanni’s stay in the magnificent body of water was interrupted by a storm that pushed him north to Martha’s Vineyard, where he found shelter in today’s Newport. Here the expedition rested for two weeks, from April 24 to May 6, entering into contact and forming bonds with the indigenous populations.

The great feat was accomplished: the entire stretch of land extending from Florida to Cape Breton Island—the land to which the navigator gave the name “Francesca”—had been discovered. In the first days of July 1524, the expedition returned to Dieppe. The fame and prestige Verrazzano achieved in scientific and political circles after this accomplishment led to several unsuccessful attempts by France’s enemy governments to secure the collaboration of this figure, who instead continued to honor his coat of arms with the French fleur-de-lis. Between May 1526 and September 1527, Verrazzano led an expedition that brought, via the Cape of Good Hope, the first French ship into the Indian Ocean, and on the return journey touched the coasts of Brazil, bringing back considerable treasure.

Following this further success, a new expedition was organized, in which his brother Girolamo, by then an established cartographer, also participated. The expedition reached Florida and two nearby islands: Cabaco and Babama (present-day Abaco and Grand Bahama). Then heading toward the coast of Darien, across the Caribbean Sea, Giovanni sighted an island covered in lush vegetation and apparently deserted. He landed there with six men; but suddenly, from the dense thicket, a group of natives attacked them with extraordinary ferocity, overwhelmed them and, after stripping and killing them, threw their bodies in pieces onto burning coals, devouring them amid beastly commotion and frenzied screams, while his brother Girolamo, horrified but helpless, witnessed the massacre from aboard the ship. It was the year 1528.