Venetian School, 18th century
Allegories of the Four Continents: Asia, Europe, Africa, and America
Lot Closed
May 26, 02:33 PM GMT
Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Venetian School, 18th century
Allegories of the Four Continents: Asia, Europe, Africa, and America
a set of four, all oil on canvas
each canvas: 28 ⅛ by 40 ⅛ in.; 71.4 by 101.9 cm.
each framed: 34 ¼ by 38 ¼ in.; 87 by 97.2 cm.
Mrs. Andre de Limur;
By whose estate sold ("Property formerly in the Estate of Mrs. Andre de Limur"), New York, Sotheby's, 17 April 1986, lot 100;
Thereafter acquired by the present collector.
During the eighteenth century, allegorical representations of “the four continents” – Asia, Africa, Europe, and America – became emblematic images of the dramatically expanding worldview that emerged from Europe’s Age of Exploration. In the early sixteenth century, Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci’s revelation that the Americas were a unique continent, the so-called Mundus Novus or “New World”, fueled the development of this popular iconic scheme in visual culture. Condensing the vast scope of global cultures within a single glance, these allegories reflect Europe’s fascination with exploration, conquest, exoticism, and colonization.
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