Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Allegories of the Four Continents
1715–60
Medium
Pen and black ink, gray wash, heightened with white, over black chalk, on blue paper
Dimensions
13 5/16 x 12 13/16 in. (33.8 x 32.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of the Estate of James Hyden, 1959
Accession Number
59.208.95
Tags
Art Historical Context
Felix Anton Scheffler's *Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Alleg of the Four Continents (1715–60) is a captivating preparatory drawing that celebrates the founder of the Jesuit order during the height of the Baroque era. its center, Saint Ignatius is likely depicted as a triumphant spiritual leader, surrounded by personifications of Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas—symbolizing the global reach of Catholic missions in the Counter-Reformation. Vivid tags like cows, horses, and angels at symbolic attributes: sturdy animals evoking pastoral abundance or exotic lands, while celestial figures underscor...