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the continental personifications, nor did the cultural elements or wildlife depicted always stand up to what
America's reality actually was. Indeed, as time went on, instead of familiarity breeding authenticity in depictions, artistic license became even more rampant. "As the New World became less threatening to Europeans, its personification grew softer, more decorative, more Arcadian. Amazons gave way to graceful young women, whom the European taste for exoticism endowed with an ever more voluptuous appeal." By virtue of this, the depiction of America as a wild savage shifted into being a
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is opposed by the depiction of
America as naked, dressed in feathers, with a feathered crown, a bow, a parrot perched on her wrist, accompanied by a pile of heads. In addition to these disparate degrees of civility in their depictions, here Europe and America are shown to be in a direct relationship of religious superiority and subservience. In describing the Americas in terms of religious potential with regards to the paintings at WĂĽrzburg, it was argued about America that "One of the foremost connotations of this new world was religious, and specifically missionary."
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considered hot and exotic. America has been shown with a number of animals not naturally found on the
American continents. America is shown with a camel in a set of glasses, and a depiction of a woman with an elephant had been labelled “America” for many years. These inaccuracies were encompassed in a larger conundrum of America and Africa being allowed to share iconography, even within the same context, as in one instance where America's and Africa's personifications are portrayed as children in the act of playing with each other.
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209:. Although not at all involved in the exploration of the Americas (the Habsburgs had by the 1520s made it very difficult for any Italians to travel there), the Medicis were very interested in them, and had acquired a good collection of artifacts, plants, and animals. For Cosimo's politically important wedding to
80:: Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. These were all that were then known in Europe. The addition of America made these an even more attractive group to represent visually, as sets of four could be placed around all sorts of four-sided objects, or in pairs along the facade of a building with a central doorway.
91:. They were normally female, with Europe queenly and grandly dressed, and clearly the leader of the group. Asia is fully and richly dressed but in an exotic style, with Africa and America at most half-dressed, and given exotic props. One of the earliest and most persistent attributes for America was the
287:
In spite of the predominant conception of
America personified as being a half-clad woman wearing feathers, holding a bow, and having a large reptile at her side and a disembodied head at her feet, not all images of America were made strictly in accordance with what was essentially Ripa's template for
255:
While Europe possessed the image of a noble or a Roman goddess, America "was usually envisioned as a rather fierce savage – only slightly removed in type from the medieval tradition of the wild man." This is not to suggest that only
America was radically different from Europe in terms of the figure's
283:
This disparity between the two continents is especially poignant in the continental personifications at the staircase in WĂĽrzburg. There, Europe is seen, in accordance with Ripa's depiction, as being the most nobly clad, in addition to being surrounded by relics of art, science, and the church. This
244:
Such images as bows and arrows, clubs, and indications of cannibalism would be closely intertwined with the artistic conception of the
Americas as a reflection of the idealization of America as a place of savagery and tropical wilderness. At this time, America personified predominantly possessed
295:
In other, less politically-charged respects, there were also inconsistencies in
America's portrayal, particularly with the sort of animals accompanying her. Often Africa and America were confused, with their conventional attributes being swapped around; presumably this was because both were
439:
193:
The addition of
America to the previous three continents or "parts of the world" was not immediate after 1492, as it took some years to establish that America was not an eastern edge of Asia, and was a very large land mass comparable to the others. The very notion of a
264:
with his entourage, almost all men with turbans, moustaches, distinctive noses, and robes, some bearing falchions. This does, however, argue that
America was perhaps iconographically the most antithetical continent to Europe in most sets of the continents personified.
316:, and after it quickly dropped the former. The figures were now sometimes called "America" and sometimes "Liberty", later mostly settling on the latter. Through most of the 19th century American coins carried a neoclassical female head labelled "Liberty". Although
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95:; these reached Europe by the early 16th century and were highly valued. The feather crown headdress, with the feathers standing up vertically, reflected the actual headgear of some American peoples. A
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elements associated with hot, tropical environs because of the regions of the
Americas that had been explored first. These explored regions were mainly the tropical regions of Central and South America.
308:, but such European-Americans were not long happy being symbolised by Native Americans, with whom they were often at war. Before independence they had already begun to use figures combining aspects of
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was uncertain, and contemporary intellectuals tried to integrate the newly-discovered lands into the already complicated and disputed picture of world geography inherited from the Ancient Greeks.
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Depictions of America included exotic background details, especially fauna unknown in Europe such as "the parrot or macaw, turtle, armadillo, tapir, sloth, jaguar, and alligator." However, the
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worn by both sexes, which astonished early writers, were omitted by artists based in Europe, though drawn by travelers. They may have been thought indecorous on female personifications.
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depictions was set by reports from Central and South America, and largely remained in place until some way into the 19th century, when European contact with North American
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has text descriptions, although they had clearly not been explained properly to the author. He says the naked New Spain held a "pine cone", no doubt intended to be a
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103:, was a very common feature (although the familiar apple often seems the most prominent). America is often accompanied by an improbably placid
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The first personification images made by Europeans settled in America included some versions of the European types, including engravings by
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appearance. Outside of personification, Asia took a dramatically different appearance from Europe. This is seen in the print
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217:, in 1539, the lavish street decorations for the procession included images of Charles with personifications of Spain,
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was in literary use from around 1730, she does not seem to have been used in images until later, around 1800.
214:
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667:
Ashton, Mark (1978). "Allegory, Fact, and Meaning in Giambattista Tiepolo's Four Continents in WĂĽrzburg".
853:
Le Corbeiller, Clare, "Miss America and Her Sisters: Personifications of the Four Parts of the World",
37:
820:
The Classical Tradition and the Americas: European Images of the Americas and the Classical Tradition
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272:
149:, something of a combination of these. As more new nations became independent in the Americas, new
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Higham, John (1990). "Indian Princess and Roman Goddess: The First Female Symbols of America",
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260:. Coming from the "very exotic kingdom of Persia," the plate depicts the Persian diplomat
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The Entry of the Ambassador of Persia into Paris, Seen in the Place Royal, 7 February 1715
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Spanish porcelain figure, c. 1770, with attributes including a severed head and alligator
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The New Golden Land: European images of America from the discoveries to the present time
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and bow now broken off), c. 1760. A purple alligator between America's feet.
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appear to the sides, though the old South American feather costume remains.
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Some of the earliest recorded personifications came from the court of
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A Kingdom of Images: French Prints in the Age of Louis XIV, 1660–1715
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617:"The Four Parts of the World – Representations of the Continents"
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Maritz, Jessie (2013). "From Roman Africa to Roman America".
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656:. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute. pp. 288–289.
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Salvation and Globalization in the Early Jesuit Missions
233:, and Peru "had with her a sheep with a long neck" – a
363:, 1570s. In the background a captive is being roasted.
591:. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp.
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241:had included representations of American Indians.
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The Myth of Continents: A Critique of Metageography
516:(left) and a late appearance of the Indian princess
83:A set of loose conventions quickly arose as to the
694:. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp.
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417:English print, 1634. America holds a human leg.
118:, though the earliest images may show an exotic
845:Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society
16:Early European personifications of the Americas
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237:. Charles's own wedding procession in 1526 in
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133:became more prominent. In the 18th century,
1255:South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
818:Haase, Wolfgang and Reinhold, Meyer (eds.),
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914:
564:Haase and Reinhold, 6–74, especially 47–52
279:, 1750s. America sits on a huge alligator.
203:Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
865:Imagining the Americas in Medici Florence
822:(Vol. 1 of 2), 1994, Walter de Gruyter,
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855:The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin
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137:began to use personifications based on
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615:Morell, Vivienne (November 12, 2014).
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225:. No images survive, but the official
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169:figures, German, c. 1775, from left:
405:, with severed head between her feet
382:, 1581, with a peaceful scene behind
101:new edible plants from the Americas
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804:1613 edition, with text in Italian
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504:Detail from a 1855–1856 fresco by
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76:, typically come from sets of the
30:, who did several versions of the
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448:, Europe and America (with their
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621:Vivennemorrell.wordpress.com
60:, before 1595. Fighting and
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675:: 109–12 – via JSTOR.
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464:18th-century stucco in the
300:Early North American images
111:, reasonably comparable to
70:personifications of America
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867:, 2016, Penn State Press,
1332:National personifications
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1240:Saint Pierre and Miquelon
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555:Haase and Reinhold, 52–56
273:Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
151:national personifications
1260:Turks and Caicos Islands
857:, vol. 19, pp. 210–223,
757:: 476 – via JSTOR.
533:
292:, or "Indian princess."
847:. 100: 50–51, JSTOR or
652:Fuhring, Peter (2015).
1175:British Virgin Islands
686:Clossey, Luke (2008).
583:Lewis, Martin (1997).
359:awakes America in her
280:
213:, a distant cousin of
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34:
28:Johann Joachim Kändler
26:, c. 1760, modeled by
1088:Saint Kitts and Nevis
546:Le Corbelier, 216–218
512:in Washington, D.C.,
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1265:U.S. Virgin Islands
1108:Trinidad and Tobago
953:Antigua and Barbuda
751:The Classical World
506:Constantino Brumidi
99:, representing the
1018:Dominican Republic
902:, 1976, Allen Lane
794:Le Corbellier, 210
785:Le Corbeiller, 211
642:Le Corbeiller, 210
633:Le Corbeiller, 210
605:Le Corbeiller, 210
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185:, with parrot and
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64:in the background.
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875:, 9780271078229.
830:, 9783110115727.
736:Le Corbelier, 219
446:Chelsea porcelain
277:WĂĽrzburg Residenz
262:Mohammad Reza Beg
211:Eleanor of Toledo
24:Meissen porcelain
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131:Native Americans
125:The pattern for
89:personifications
56:after design by
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78:four continents
68:Early European
54:Julius Goltzius
49:Four continents
32:Four continents
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883:Google Books
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52:engraved by
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1322:Iconography
1220:Puerto Rico
1147:territories
1093:Saint Lucia
1028:El Salvador
433:tile, 1740s
400:emblem book
396:Cesare Ripa
380:Jan Sadeler
306:Paul Revere
85:iconography
62:cannibalism
46:, from the
1316:Categories
1215:Montserrat
1210:Martinique
1205:Guadeloupe
1003:Costa Rica
873:0271078227
828:3110115727
813:References
718:Higham, 50
470:Mindelheim
403:Iconologia
187:cornucopia
116:crocodiles
97:cornucopia
1288:Caribbean
1200:Greenland
1123:Venezuela
1068:Nicaragua
1038:Guatemala
958:Argentina
943:Sovereign
376:Engraving
353:Stradanus
310:Britannia
231:pineapple
219:New Spain
215:Charles V
196:continent
167:porcelain
139:Britannia
120:armadillo
113:Old World
109:alligator
1337:Americas
1155:Anguilla
1103:Suriname
1078:Paraguay
1053:Honduras
1013:Dominica
998:Colombia
968:Barbados
522:See also
514:Columbia
468:church,
431:majolica
429:Italian
318:Columbia
207:Florence
147:Columbia
74:Americas
1185:Curaçao
1170:Bonaire
1165:Bermuda
1118:Uruguay
1058:Jamaica
1033:Grenada
1023:Ecuador
978:Bolivia
963:Bahamas
508:in the
472:. Now
450:sceptre
361:hammock
314:Liberty
250:tattoos
239:Seville
183:America
165:Set of
143:Liberty
87:of the
43:America
1073:Panama
1063:Mexico
1043:Guyana
988:Canada
983:Brazil
973:Belize
945:states
871:
826:
702:
476:and a
474:tepees
466:Jesuit
351:after
179:Africa
175:Europe
105:caiman
93:parrot
1160:Aruba
1048:Haiti
993:Chile
534:Notes
478:bison
235:llama
1225:Saba
1145:and
1083:Peru
1008:Cuba
869:ISBN
824:ISBN
700:ISBN
312:and
223:Peru
221:and
171:Asia
141:and
881:at
859:PDF
849:PDF
836:at
755:106
398:'s
378:by
205:in
107:or
1318::
898:,
753:.
741:^
698:.
696:77
673:60
671:.
619:.
593:25
355:,
181:,
177:,
173:,
122:.
929:e
922:t
915:v
885:.
840:.
708:.
623:.
595:.
189:.
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