Allegory of America, from the Four Continents
Engraving, part of a series of four oval prints, signed and dated 1575, with allegorical representations of the four parts of the world in the form of feminine figures laying on landscapes endowed with their attributes, surrounded by animals. This representation of America consists of a naked woman, witting with her back to the viewer and with her head turned towards the right. She wears a feather crown, and holds a bow in her left hand, a bundle of arrows lying behind her. She rests her right arm on an animal, possibly fantastic, seemingly carnivore but with a pocket in the belly, like marsupials, from which emerges the head of its offspring.
Artwork Details
- Title: Allegory of America, from the Four Continents
- Artist: Etienne Delaune (French, Orléans 1518/19–1583 Strasbourg)
- Date: 1575
- Medium: Engraving
- Dimensions: Sheet (trimmed): 2 5/16 in. × 3 in. (5.8 × 7.6 cm)
- Classifications: Prints, Ornament & Architecture
- Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1947
- Object Number: 47.139.12
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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