Series of the Four Parts of the World. Africa

These are very reliable old copies of Giordano’s Series, sent to Madrid for the Alcázar in about 1687-1689, before the painter himself came to Spain. They were seen at the Palace by Ponz and Ceán Bermúdez and were kept for a time in the Casita del Príncipe at the Escorial. They were deposited by the Patrimonio Nacional (National Heritage) in the Spanish Embassy in Lisbon, where one was destroyed and the others badly damaged in the embassy fire during the 1974 incidents.

Giordano chose female figures to represent the four continents or parts of the known world.

Africa is represented by a standing black woman, crowned with corals and about to talk to a Roman soldier who is approaching her; this is undoubtedly an allusion to Scipio Africanus and his legions. She is in a rocky, deserted landscape, surrounded by exotic animals (lions, tigers, elephants) and black and white women and children.

This group of paintings, which is a very faithful reproduction of the originals, is of remarkable quality. Its importance lies in the fact that it testifies to the success of Giordano’s compositions, given that they were repeated and copied several times and were popularised through the engravings.