Allegory of Africa, from the Four Continents

Allegory of Africa, from the Four Continents

Johann Justin Preissler

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This engraving of a woman representing Africa is one of a set showing the four continents (America, Europe, Asia and Africa) as female figures. It was engraved by Johann Justin Preissler after Edmè Bouchardon. The attributes for each figure correspond with descriptions in Cesare Ripa’s "Iconologia", an illustrated dictionary widely used by artists, first published with images in 1603.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Allegory of Africa, from the Four ContinentsAllegory of Africa, from the Four ContinentsAllegory of Africa, from the Four ContinentsAllegory of Africa, from the Four ContinentsAllegory of Africa, from the Four Continents

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.