Allegory of America, late 1690s
Giovanni Antonio Pellegriniexpand_more
Pen and brown ink and wash, over black chalkexpand_more
The David M. Daniels Fundexpand_more 66.34
Not on Viewexpand_more
Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini traveled widely, painting dazzling, effervescent decorations for fashionable palaces and villas across northern Europe. His drawings are free and spirited, as demonstrated in this loosely executed study. The figure is the continent of America - - North and South still grouped together - - personified as a nearly naked woman, holding a bow and arrow, with a quiver at her waist, symbols easily recognized by Pellegrini's contemporaries. The decapitated head at America's foot alludes to the cannibalism presumably practiced in the New World.
Artists have long sought drawings by their predecessors. At the lower right, we see where the English painter Sir Joshua Reynolds stamped his initials as a sign of ownership.
Details
- Title
- Allegory of America
- Artist Life
- Italian (Venice), 1675–1741
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 66.34
- Provenance
- Private collection, Lugt 3005c-d ("Reliable Venetian Hand"), Venice, 18th century; Sir Joshua Reynolds, Lugt 2364 (1723-1794), London; [J. M. F. Baer, London, until 1966; sold, for $560, to Mia]
- Curator Approved
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