America
Medium
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Museum purchase through gift of Anonymous Donor
Accession Number
1947-43-1
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
**America** (1717) is a captivating print by Martin Engelbrecht, a prolific German engraver from Augsburg (1684–1756), now housed in the Smithsonian American Museum. Created during the early 18th century, this exemplifies Engelbrecht's specialty in producing affordable, hand-colored prints that brought allegorical imagery to a wide audience. Likely part of his renowned series personifying the four continents,America* depicts the New World as a symbolic female figure adorned with feathers, indigenous motifs, and exotic attributes—reflecting Europe's romanticized and exoticized view of the Ameri...