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Allegorical Groupings Representing the Four Parts of the World: Asia
(Baroque Europe )
Very little is known about Francesco Bertos, a highly original artist who created a considerable number of complicated pyramidal groups in a very distinctive, ingenious style that mirrors the lightness and airiness of contemporary rococo painting in France.
These four groups (Walters 54.659, 54.657, 54.660, and 54.658) are symbolic representations (allegories) of the four parts of which the world was thought to consist. The conceot of "continents" would come later. All have their names engraved. In the allegory of Asia, an older man carries a beautiful young woman and figures in dance-like movements surround them. They hold pieces of coral, plants, and spices. This limited view of a vast continent, essentially the main products imported from there, contrasts markedly with the complexity of the representations of the other continents. See further 54.657.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Spiradon, Paris; Jacques Seligmann and Co., Inc., New York, Sale, February 17, 1917; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1917, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
Italy, Padua
(Place of Origin)
Italy, Venice (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 25 1/8 × W: 13 11/16 × D: 16 15/16 in. (63.8 × 34.8 × 43 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1917
Location in Museum
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
54.660
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Allegorical Group Representing the Four Parts of the World: Europe
Allegorical Groups Representing the Four Parts of the World: America
