Allegory of America

Nicolaes Berchem

mid-17th–late 17th century · Black chalk, brush, black ink, gray wash. Incised for transfer. · Drawings and Prints

This drawing served as a model for an engraved title page in the second volume of an atlas on the Americas, Joan Blaeu’s Atlas Maior (Amsterdam, 1662). Berchem, a prolific draftsman and painter who specialized in landscapes, reconfigured the New World allegory for a Dutch context by including a detailed setting alluding to trade and religion. At the indigenous woman’s feet, another native pours out gold. A salamander and gold bars suggest the exoticism and riches associated with the Americas. Background scenes show the metal being mined, carried, and transported on a European vessel. Up in the clouds, European allegories convert natives to Christianity and battle the devil.

Artist

Nicolaes Berchem

Date

mid-17th–late 17th century

Medium

Black chalk, brush, black ink, gray wash. Incised for transfer.

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of the Estate of James Hazen Hyde, 1959