Abundantia from The Four Continents and Related Allegories
c. 1680/1700
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
Dimensions
371.2 × 382.5 cm (146 1/8 × 150 1/2 in.)
Classification
weaving - tapestry
Department
Textiles
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
14696
Rights
Public Domain
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 ...