The scene clears the Way from Imperialism to Colonialism (Colomb-nialism). We see the very first journey of Columbus at the time Earth's curvature was still unknown.

The chess set stands for Imperialism (a reference to Church is provided by the Bishop). The King is represented by the "Arms of Columbus" where we see a Lion King and a castle. The wings are Pegasus'. The anchors recall the sea of course, but also the anchorage to homeland. The Queen (of Spain) is a painting of Isabella I of Castile (which sounds like "castle"). The King and the Queen suggest black&white squares of the chessboard.

One can guess which color is played by the Crown. The opening starts with two knights and one central pawn (the dove).

Interestingly, most of the chess set also represent the Coat of Arms of Spain which relates to the Italian origin of Columbus (Genoa) as the boat seems to having passed through the Strait of Gibraltar. The Queen's knight is pointing ahead to the further steps of the discovery. The Pegasus is the King's knight, and is definitely Columbus' because his name means dove ("Colombe" in French), which brings out the wings' origin.

Therefore the Knight of Columbus (Pegasus) is conducting and leading the Master's ship crossing over the ocean. One Pillar of Hercules is actually suggesting a modern ocean liner which explains why the sails are not open and why Columbus gets on a 17th century boat, instead of a 1492's.

Le Chevalier de Colomb est le chevalier de la colombe.