Europeans in the 16th century divided the world intofour continents:Africa,America,Asia, andEurope.[1] Each of the fourcontinents was seen to represent its quadrant of the world—Africa in the south, America in the west, Asia in the east, and Europe in the north. This division fit theRenaissance sensibilities of the time, which also divided the world into fourseasons, fourclassical elements, fourcardinal directions, fourclassical virtues, etc.
Thefour parts of the world[2] or thefour corners of the world refers toAfrica (the "south"), theAmericas (the "west"),Asia (the "east"), andEurope (the "north").
Depictions of personifications of the four continents became popular in several media. Sets of four could be placed around all sorts of four-sided objects, or in pairs along thefaçade of a building with a central doorway. They were common subjects for prints, and later smallporcelain figures. A set of loose conventions quickly arose as to theiconography of the figures. They were normally female, with Europe queenly and grandly dressed, Asia fully dressed but in an exotic style, with Africa and America at most half-dressed, and given exotic props as attributes.[3]
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Before the discovery of theNew World a commonplace of classical and medieval geography had been the "three parts" in which, from Mediterranean and European perspectives, the world was divided: Europe, Asia and Africa. AsLaurent de Premierfait, the pre-eminent French translator of Latin literature in the early fifteenth century, informed his readers:
Asia is one of the three parts of the world, which the authors divide in Asia, Africa and Europe. Asia extends towards theOrient as far as the rising sun ("devers lesouleil levant"), towards the south ("midi") it ends at the great sea, towards the occident it ends atour sea, and towards the north ("septentrion") it ends in theMaeotian marshes and the river namedThanaus.[4]
For Laurent's French readers, Asia ended at "our sea", theMediterranean; Western Europeans were only dimly aware of theUral Mountains, which divide Europe from Asia in the eyes of the modern geographer, and which represent the geological suture between two fragmentary continents, orcratons. Instead, the division between these continents in the European-centered picture was theHellespont, which neatly separated Europe from Asia. From the European perspective, into theAge of Discovery, Asia began beyond the Hellespont withAsia Minor, where the Roman province ofAsia had lain, and stretched away to what were initially unimaginably exotic and distant places— "theOrient".
In 1593,Cesare Ripa published one of the most successfulemblem books for the use of artists and artisans who might be called upon to depict allegorical figures. He covered an astonishingly wide variety of fields, and his work was reprinted many times, though the text did not always correlate to the illustration.[5] The book was still being brought up-to-date in the 18th century. Ripa's text and the many sets of illustrations by various artists for different later editions (beginning in 1603) took some of the existing iconological conventions for the four continents, and were so influential that depictions for the next two centuries were largely determined by them.[3]
Europa is depicted as a woman dressed in fine clothes. She wears a crown while the papal tiara and crowns of kings lie at her feet, indicating her position of power over all the continents. The plentiful cornucopia shows Europe to be a land of abundance and the small temple she holds signifies Christianity. As a continent of great military force, Europe is also accompanied by a horse and an array of weapons.[6] This probably draws on theEuropa regina map schematic.
Africa, by contrast wears the elephant headdress and is accompanied by animals common to Africa such as a lion, the scorpion of the desert sands, andCleopatra'sasps. These depictions come straight fromRoman coins with personifications ofthe Roman province of Africa,[7] a much smaller strip of the Mediterranean coast. The abundance and fertility of Africa is symbolized in thecornucopia that she holds. Other personifications of Africa at the time depict her nude, symbolizing the Eurocentric perceptions of Africa as an uncivilized land. While the illustration of Africa in Ripa's Iconologia is light-skinned, it was also common to illustrate her with dark skin.[5]
Ripa'sAsia, seen by Europe as a continent of exotic spices, silk, and the seat of Religion, wears rich clothing and carries a smokingcenser. The continent's warm climate is represented by the wreath of flowers in her hair. A camel takes its ease beside her.[6]
The iconic image ofAmerica shows aNative American maiden in a feathered headdress, withbow and arrow. Perhaps she represents a fabledAmazon from the river that already carried the name. In other instances of American iconography, symbols meant to connote wilderness and a tropical climate occasionally included animals entirely absent from the Americas, such as the lion. Flora and fauna as images were often interchangeable between depictions of Africa and America during the seventeenth century due to the association of the tropical climate of Central and South America with that of Africa.[8]
In addition to having an untamed landscape, America was portrayed as a place of savagery by virtue of the people who inhabited it. This can be seen in the woodcut as America is depicted as much more warlike than the other three continents. As Claire Le Corbeiller explains, America "was usually envisioned as a rather fierce savage – only slightly removed in type from the medieval tradition of the wild man."[8]
The woodcut also shows America stepping on a human head, which is meant to connote cannibalism. Evidence of dismemberment, such as disembodied heads, in addition to America's bow and arrows and her lack of clothing were all meant to connote savagery.[9] Such imagery was not uncommon in depictions of the Americas, but it was not always the case. In time, the image of a wild native being justly subjugated by a European conqueror was turned into a portrayal of an "Indian princess".[10]
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The American millionaire philanthropistJames Hazen Hyde, who inherited a majority share inEquitable Life Assurance Society, formed a collection of allegorical prints illustrating the Four Continents that are now at theNew-York Historical Society; Hyde's drawings and a supporting collection of sets of porcelain table ornaments and other decorative arts illustrating the Four Continents were shared by variousNew York City museums.
The Renaissance associated one major river to each of the continents; Europe is represented by theDanube, Africa and Asia by theNile and theGanges respectively, and America is represented by theLa Plata.[11] The Four Rivers theme appears for example in theFontana dei Quattro Fiumi, a 17th-century fountain in Rome designed byGian Lorenzo Bernini in thePiazza Navona in Rome, and in the paintingThe Four Continents byPeter Paul Rubens.Fountain of the Four Rivers, (Danube,Nile,Ganges,La Plata)
With the European discovery of the existence ofAustralia, the theme of the "Four Continents" lost much of its drive, long before another continent,Antarctica, was also discovered. The iconography survived as theFour Corners of the World, however, generally in self-consciously classicizing contexts: for instance, in New York, in front of theBeaux-ArtsAlexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House (1907), four sculptural groups byDaniel Chester French symbolize the "Four Corners of the World".
Continents have occasionally been grouped together bylandmass.[12] The four resulting continental landmasses are, from largest to smallest:Afroeurasia,America,Antarctica andAustralia.
And since Africa and Asia are connected at the Suez Peninsula, Europe, Africa, and Asia are sometimes combined as Afro-Eurasia or Eurafrasia. The International Olympic Committee's official flag, containing [...] the single continent of America (North and South America being connected as the Isthmus of Panama).
