{
  "checked": "2026-10-12",
  "delivery": "Bundled WebP images",
  "generation": "Built-in image generation",
  "historicalImages": [
    {
      "id": "venice",
      "url": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Nuremberg_chronicles_f_043v44r.png/960px-Nuremberg_chronicles_f_043v44r.png",
      "source": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nuremberg_chronicles_f_043v44r.png",
      "caption": "Venice in the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493 — Hartmann Schedel. A later city view, not Venice in 1271; public domain.",
      "licence": "Public domain",
      "licenceUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/",
      "changes": "None by Histlas",
      "originalDimensions": [
        1953,
        780
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "caravan",
      "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Caravane_Marco_Polo.jpg",
      "source": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caravane_Marco_Polo.jpg",
      "caption": "Silk Road caravan — Abraham Cresques, Catalan Atlas, 1375. Later medieval illustration, not an eyewitness record of the Polos; public domain.",
      "licence": "Public domain",
      "licenceUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/",
      "changes": "None by Histlas",
      "originalDimensions": [
        1404,
        1014
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "polo-court",
      "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Marco_Polo_Kubilai_Khan.jpg",
      "source": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marco_Polo_Kubilai_Khan.jpg",
      "caption": "The Polo brothers receiving a paiza from Kublai Khan — Master of Mazarine and collaborators, c.1410–1412. Later European manuscript illustration; public domain.",
      "licence": "Public domain",
      "licenceUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/",
      "changes": "None by Histlas",
      "originalDimensions": [
        665,
        350
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "kublai",
      "url": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/YuanEmperorAlbumKhubilaiPortrait.jpg/960px-YuanEmperorAlbumKhubilaiPortrait.jpg",
      "source": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:YuanEmperorAlbumKhubilaiPortrait.jpg",
      "caption": "Posthumous portrait of Kublai Khan — attributed to Araniko, c.1294, National Palace Museum, Taipei. Public domain.",
      "licence": "Public domain",
      "licenceUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/",
      "changes": "None by Histlas",
      "originalDimensions": [
        3221,
        4018
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "junk",
      "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Ser_Marco_Polo_Ancient_Chinese_War_Vessel.jpg",
      "source": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ser_Marco_Polo_Ancient_Chinese_War_Vessel.jpg",
      "caption": "Chinese war vessel, reproduced in Henry Yule’s Book of Ser Marco Polo, 1903, from an older Chinese encyclopaedia. Later illustration, not the vessel used by the Polos; public domain.",
      "licence": "Public domain",
      "licenceUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/",
      "changes": "None by Histlas",
      "originalDimensions": [
        797,
        821
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "pepper",
      "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Le_livre_des_merveilles_de_Marco_Polo-pepper.jpg",
      "source": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Le_livre_des_merveilles_de_Marco_Polo-pepper.jpg",
      "caption": "Pepper harvesting in southern India — Masters of Boucicaut and Mazarine, c.1410–1412, manuscript of Marco Polo’s Travels, BnF. Later European illustration; public domain.",
      "licence": "Public domain",
      "licenceUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/",
      "changes": "None by Histlas",
      "originalDimensions": [
        2252,
        1382
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "manuscript",
      "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Marco_Polo%2C_Il_Milione%2C_Chapter_CXXIII_and_CXXIV_Cropped.jpg",
      "source": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marco_Polo,_Il_Milione,_Chapter_CXXIII_and_CXXIV_Cropped.jpg",
      "caption": "An illustrated manuscript page from Marco Polo’s Travels: the Khan at war. A later manuscript tradition, not a page written by Polo or an eyewitness image; public domain. Existing Commons crop and rotation.",
      "licence": "Public domain",
      "licenceUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/",
      "changes": "None by Histlas",
      "originalDimensions": [
        763,
        1170
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "galley",
      "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Venetian_galley_at_Curzola-engraving.jpg",
      "source": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Venetian_galley_at_Curzola-engraving.jpg",
      "caption": "A Venetian galley at Curzola, 1298 — Quinto Cenni, engraving published c.1874–1875. Later historical interpretation; public domain.",
      "licence": "Public domain",
      "licenceUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/",
      "changes": "None by Histlas",
      "originalDimensions": [
        1600,
        915
      ]
    }
  ],
  "images": [
    {
      "id": "venice",
      "url": "assets/story/polo/venice-reconstruction.webp",
      "alt": "Painted reconstruction: Preparing the journey in Venice",
      "caption": "Preparing the journey in Venice — AI-generated reconstruction for Histlas, 2026. People, vessels and settings are illustrative, not eyewitness records or exact likenesses.",
      "prompt": "Venice lagoon port in 1271, young Venetian traveller and two older merchant relatives preparing goods near a medieval lateen sailing vessel. Thirteenth-century tunics, wooden piers, stone quays, no modern landmarks assumed. Corrected later architecture to generic thirteenth-century brick merchant buildings.",
      "source": "sources/marco-polo-story-images.json",
      "licence": "Generated for Histlas"
    },
    {
      "id": "caravan",
      "url": "assets/story/polo/caravan-reconstruction.webp",
      "alt": "Painted reconstruction: The merchant caravan in Persia",
      "caption": "The merchant caravan in Persia — AI-generated reconstruction for Histlas, 2026. People, vessels and settings are illustrative, not eyewitness records or exact likenesses.",
      "prompt": "Marco Polo's small merchant party travelling through Persian dry country with local guides, pack camels and horses, three Venetian merchants in thirteenth-century practical travel clothing, distant mudbrick trading town.",
      "source": "sources/marco-polo-story-images.json",
      "licence": "Generated for Histlas"
    },
    {
      "id": "mountains",
      "url": "assets/story/polo/mountains-reconstruction.webp",
      "alt": "Painted reconstruction: Crossing the Pamir mountains",
      "caption": "Crossing the Pamir mountains — AI-generated reconstruction for Histlas, 2026. People, vessels and settings are illustrative, not eyewitness records or exact likenesses.",
      "prompt": "Small medieval merchant caravan climbing a rough high Pamir mountain pass, loaded horses and a few pack camels, wool cloaks, snow peaks, cold clear air, no modern equipment.",
      "source": "sources/marco-polo-story-images.json",
      "licence": "Generated for Histlas"
    },
    {
      "id": "desert",
      "url": "assets/story/polo/desert-reconstruction.webp",
      "alt": "Painted reconstruction: The desert and oasis routes",
      "caption": "The desert and oasis routes — AI-generated reconstruction for Histlas, 2026. People, vessels and settings are illustrative, not eyewitness records or exact likenesses.",
      "prompt": "A small thirteenth-century caravan following an oasis route along the Tarim desert near Lop, pack camels, attentive local guide, distant dunes and a small water stop, dusk light.",
      "source": "sources/marco-polo-story-images.json",
      "licence": "Generated for Histlas"
    },
    {
      "id": "court",
      "url": "assets/story/polo/court-reconstruction.webp",
      "alt": "Painted reconstruction: An audience at Kublai Khan’s court",
      "caption": "An audience at Kublai Khan’s court — AI-generated reconstruction for Histlas, 2026. People, vessels and settings are illustrative, not eyewitness records or exact likenesses.",
      "prompt": "An interpretive reconstruction of Kublai Khan's Shangdu summer court around 1275: Mongol ruler in restrained Yuan period clothing, young Venetian Marco Polo with father and uncle presenting letters, officials and guards, timber imperial hall, no fantasy armor.",
      "source": "sources/marco-polo-story-images.json",
      "licence": "Generated for Histlas"
    },
    {
      "id": "fleet",
      "url": "assets/story/polo/fleet-reconstruction.webp",
      "alt": "Painted reconstruction: The ocean-going Chinese return fleet",
      "caption": "The ocean-going Chinese return fleet — AI-generated reconstruction for Histlas, 2026. People, vessels and settings are illustrative, not eyewitness records or exact likenesses.",
      "prompt": "Ocean-going Chinese wooden junks with battened sails leaving Quanzhou around 1292, a small escort fleet for Mongol princess Kokejin, sailors loading supplies, no European caravels or modern harbour, dramatic sea light.",
      "source": "sources/marco-polo-story-images.json",
      "licence": "Generated for Histlas"
    },
    {
      "id": "sumatra",
      "url": "assets/story/polo/sumatra-reconstruction.webp",
      "alt": "Painted reconstruction: The monsoon wait in Sumatra",
      "caption": "The monsoon wait in Sumatra — AI-generated reconstruction for Histlas, 2026. People, vessels and settings are illustrative, not eyewitness records or exact likenesses.",
      "prompt": "Chinese wooden junks with battened sails sheltered offshore northern Sumatra around 1292, a medieval travel party including Venetian merchants and local people gathering provisions, tropical coast and monsoon clouds, respectful documentary scene.",
      "source": "sources/marco-polo-story-images.json",
      "licence": "Generated for Histlas"
    },
    {
      "id": "book",
      "url": "assets/story/polo/book-reconstruction.webp",
      "alt": "Painted reconstruction: Marco Polo and Rustichello making the book",
      "caption": "Marco Polo and Rustichello making the book — AI-generated reconstruction for Histlas, 2026. People, vessels and settings are illustrative, not eyewitness records or exact likenesses.",
      "prompt": "Marco Polo and Rustichello collaborating on a manuscript in Genoa around1298, two middle-aged men speaking and writing with quill at a modest wooden table, subdued stone room, parchment, daylight through small window, no legible text.",
      "source": "sources/marco-polo-story-images.json",
      "licence": "Generated for Histlas"
    },
    {
      "id": "hormuz",
      "url": "assets/story/polo/hormuz-reconstruction.webp",
      "alt": "Painted reconstruction: Old Hormuz: choosing the inland route",
      "caption": "Old Hormuz: choosing the inland route — AI-generated reconstruction for Histlas, 2026. People, objects and settings are illustrative, not eyewitness records or exact likenesses.",
      "prompt": "Old Hormuz on mainland Persian Gulf near Minab, around1273: Venetian merchant party at timber dhow wharf inspecting a small stitched-plank boat, Persian port warehouses and date palms, no island Hormuz fortress or Portuguese architecture.",
      "source": "sources/marco-polo-story-images.json",
      "licence": "Generated for Histlas"
    },
    {
      "id": "hangzhou",
      "url": "assets/story/polo/hangzhou-reconstruction.webp",
      "alt": "Painted reconstruction: Hangzhou: canals and commerce",
      "caption": "Hangzhou: canals and commerce — AI-generated reconstruction for Histlas, 2026. People, objects and settings are illustrative, not eyewitness records or exact likenesses.",
      "prompt": "Hangzhou Kinsay under Yuan dynasty around1282, busy Chinese canal city with wooden cargo boats, arched stone bridge, markets with silk merchants and diverse townspeople, tiled timber houses, illustrative urban scene, no modern skyline.",
      "source": "sources/marco-polo-story-images.json",
      "licence": "Generated for Histlas"
    },
    {
      "id": "paper-money",
      "url": "assets/story/polo/paper-money-reconstruction.webp",
      "alt": "Painted reconstruction: Paper money in Yuan China",
      "caption": "Paper money in Yuan China — AI-generated reconstruction for Histlas, 2026. People, objects and settings are illustrative, not eyewitness records or exact likenesses.",
      "prompt": "Yuan China around1280, merchants exchanging goods using small dark paper banknotes at a market stall, official red seal imprint on an indistinct sheet, textiles and tea containers, historically plausible thirteenth-century clothing, no modern printed currency or legible text.",
      "source": "sources/marco-polo-story-images.json",
      "licence": "Generated for Histlas"
    },
    {
      "id": "relay",
      "url": "assets/story/polo/relay-reconstruction.webp",
      "alt": "Painted reconstruction: The imperial horse-relay network",
      "caption": "The imperial horse-relay network — AI-generated reconstruction for Histlas, 2026. People, objects and settings are illustrative, not eyewitness records or exact likenesses.",
      "prompt": "Mongol Yuan imperial postal relay station around1281: courier changing horses, attendants tending spare mounts, a modest wooden roadside station beside open steppe, leather document pouch and small paiza credential, no modern equipment.",
      "source": "sources/marco-polo-story-images.json",
      "licence": "Generated for Histlas"
    },
    {
      "id": "coal",
      "url": "assets/story/polo/coal-reconstruction.webp",
      "alt": "Painted reconstruction: Coal as fuel in Yuan China",
      "caption": "Coal as fuel in Yuan China — AI-generated reconstruction for Histlas, 2026. People, objects and settings are illustrative, not eyewitness records or exact likenesses.",
      "prompt": "Historical story illustration for Histlas Marco Polo: Yuan China around1284, modest household courtyard with brazier and cooking stove burning irregular black coal, merchant traveller observing local people tending the fire and coal sacks. Thirteenth-century Chinese clothing and plain timber buildings. Wide traditional oil painting with textured brushwork, muted earth colours, atmospheric blue shadows, natural anatomy, consistent Marco Polo story style. No text, no watermark or border. Illustrative reconstruction, no modern equipment.",
      "source": "sources/marco-polo-story-images.json",
      "licence": "Generated for Histlas"
    },
    {
      "id": "portrait",
      "url": "assets/story/polo/portrait-reconstruction.webp",
      "alt": "Imagined painted portrait of young Marco Polo at the start of his journey.",
      "caption": "Young Marco Polo — AI-generated illustration for Histlas, 2026. Imagined likeness and setting, not a verified historical portrait.",
      "prompt": "Histlas historical oil painting, wide landscape portrait composition. Young Marco Polo around17years old at departure in1271, plausible thirteenth-century Venetian merchant clothing, dark brown hair, intelligent attentive expression, half-length figure prominently in foreground, medieval Venetian lagoon harbour softly behind him with simple brick warehouses and a lateen wooden merchant ship. No later Baroque or Renaissance buildings. Textured historical painting matching Marco Polo story illustrations, natural anatomy, muted earth colours and atmospheric blue shadows. Interpretive imagined likeness, not a verified portrait. No text, border, watermark.",
      "source": "sources/marco-polo-story-images.json",
      "licence": "Generated for Histlas"
    }
  ],
  "caravanMarker": {
    "url": "assets/exploration/polo-caravan-realistic.webp",
    "prompt": "Transparent-background realistic painted miniature map marker of a small thirteenth-century merchant expedition: one local walking guide at the front, one Venetian traveller riding a horse, two laden pack camels behind, facing right, coherent side profile. Natural animal anatomy and historically plausible wool tunics and saddlebags. Compact horizontal composition, isolated clean silhouette, full bodies and all legs visible, readable at56pixel size. Rich realistic historical painting shading matching realistic ship markers, restrained brown and ochre, no cartoon, no emoji, no geometric outline style, no frame, no scenery, no ground patch, no text, no shadows extending beyond subjects. Fully transparent background.",
    "note": "AI-generated representative merchant caravan; transparent background, not an exact reconstruction of the Polos’ party."
  }
}