Allegory of America

ca. 1696

Not on view

This detailed drawing served as a final study for a decorative cartouche in a map of America printed by Carel Allard in 1696. A German print designer and painter who worked primarily in Amsterdam, Tideman here borrowed motifs already in circulation: the native pouring gold, the giant lizard at the feet of the indigenous woman, and her feather headdress and skirt all echo the Nicolaes Berchem's print for the frontispiece of the second volume of John Blaeu's Atlas Maior (1662). Tideman embellished the iconography by adding to the scene decorative feathers as well as plants and animals native to the Americas, such as the pineapple and the armadillo.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: Allegory of America
Artist: Philip Tideman (Dutch, Hamburg 1657–1705 Amsterdam)
Date: ca. 1696
Medium: Brush and gray ink, over graphite, incised for transfer
Dimensions: Sheet: 5 3/4 × 11 3/8 in. (14.6 × 28.9 cm), the top corners rounded
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Frits and Rita Markus Fund, 2014
Object Number: 2014.755
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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