Marco Polo ( /ˈmɑrkoʊ ˈpoʊloʊ/; Àdàkọ:IPA-it; c. 1254 – January 9, 1324) was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently met Kublai Khan. The exact source is unknown, but the portrait originated from a 16th century painting in the Gallery of Monsignor Badia in Rome. Inscription: Marcus Polus venetus totius orbis et Indie peregrator primus. It appears in the Nordisk familjebok Berg 1915, p. 1261 Àṣìṣe ìtọ́kasí: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named DeathBergeen William Tait, Christian Isobel Johnstone (1843). Tait's Edinburgh magazine, Volume 10. Edinburgh.  Hinds, Kathryn (2002). Venice and Its Merchant Empire. New York.