Allegory of America, from "The Four Continents"
Adriaen Collaert Netherlandish
After Maerten de Vos Netherlandish
Not on view
This late sixteenth-century engraving made in Antwerp became an emblematic image of the New World. Series representing the "four continents" were a popular conceit during the European age of exploration, when atlases were in high demand. New World themes from other prints—cannibalism, conquest, and a female native—repeat here. Vos’s allegorical figure wears an elaborate feather headdress with a bow and arrow and sits on a giant armadillo, with a parrot nearby. While not the first representation of a feather headdress in New World prints, this may have been one of the most influential.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
