Back Los cuatro Continentes Spanish Les Quatre Continents French I quattro continenti Italian 楽園の四つの河 Japanese Cztery kontynenty Polish Четыре части света (Рубенс) Russian
| The Four Continents | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Peter Paul Rubens |
| Year | 1612–1614 or 1615 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 209 cm × 284 cm (82 in × 112 in) |
| Location | Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna |
The Four Continents, also known as The Four Rivers of Paradise or The Four Corners of the World, is a painting by Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens, made between 1612 and 1615. Rubens painted this piece during a time of truce in the Eighty Years' War known as the Twelve Years' Truce. The painting depicts the female personifications of the four continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, and America) with the male personifications of their respective major rivers (the Danube, the Ganges, the Nile, and the Río de la Plata). The painting also depicts three putti in the foreground along with a crocodile, tigress, and her three cubs. An important figure in this piece is the woman in the middle who personifies Africa. She was one of the two black women Rubens painted at the time.[1]
There have been two different interpretations on this piece from the scholars Elizabeth McGrath and Jean Michel Massing. Both scholars presented different interpretations for who the figures are personifying. Other ideas have suggested that Rubens was driven by his own religious influences when creating the piece. Since 2015, there has also been some important restoration work done on both the painting and its frame.
- ^ Strings, Sabrina (10 September 2020). Fearing the Black Body. New York University Press. doi:10.18574/nyu/9781479891788.001.0001. ISBN 978-1-4798-9178-8.