About this artwork
In this tapestry, part of a Four Continents and Related Allegories set, Abundantia, a female personification of abundance, sits on a horn of plenty overflowing with fruit, surrounded by three female attendants, each representing a continent. The kneeling woman crowned with a circlet of blossoms, offering a basket of flowers and fruit, personifies Asia. The dark-skinned woman bearing a horn of plenty full of sheaves of grain represents Africa. The third attendant, who wears a feathered headdress and displays gold, silver, and pearls, can be identified as America. The attributes of all four figures are based on Cesare Ripa’s Iconologia (1593), and their depiction exemplifies the early style of their designer, Lodewijck van Schoor: they have elongated bodies, small heads, long noses, and broad arms and legs, and though they gesture dramatically, their poses are formulae repeated throughout the set.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Textiles
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Artists
- Lodewijk van Schoor , Pieter Spierinckx , Workshop of Albert Auwercx (Manufacturer)
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Title
- Abundantia from The Four Continents and Related Allegories
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Places
- Flanders (Object made in:), Brussels (Object made in:)
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Date
- Made 1670-1710
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Medium
- Wool and silk, slit and double interlocking tapestry weave Warp: Count: 7 warps per cm; wool: S-ply of three Z-spun elements; diameters: 0.7–0.9 mm Weft: Count: varies from 28 to 44 wefts per cm; wool: single S-spun elements; S-ply of two Z-spun elements; diameters: 0.2–0.8 mm; silk: pairs of S-ply of two Z-twisted elements; diameters: 0.6–0.8 mm
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Inscriptions
- Signed: A. AVWERCX; L.VAN SCHOOR INV PINX
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Dimensions
- 371.2 × 382.5 cm (146 1/8 × 150 1/2 in.)
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Credit Line
- Gift of Benjamin E. Bensinger, III
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Reference Number
- 1962.462
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/14696/manifest.json
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
