The Four Corners of the Globe Pay Homage To Britannia

In 1703, Queen Anne commissioned Antonio Verrio to paint one of the most important unfinished rooms at Hampton Court Palace: the Queen's Drawing Room. The Queen's Apartments had been left unfinished and unfurnished after the death of Mary II in 1694; Anne intended them to be used by her consort, Prince George of Denmark, and the Drawing Room, centrally positioned on the East Front overlooking the formal gardens, was intended as its decorative focus. Verrio's work at Hampton Court represents his last major commission before his death in 1707, and the Queen's Drawing Room was his last completed mural scheme. The separate scenes on the ceiling and three walls are painted in the fashionable illusionistic style of the Baroque age, with the room transformed into a marble hall, open to the sky; they recognise Britain's emerging dominance over land and sea, a process catalysed during the time it took Verrio to paint the room, with the 1704 military victories at Blenheim and Gibraltar.

The central scene on the west wall, painted as if it was a tapestry, complete with an illusionistic floral border with gold fringes, shows Britannia receiving the homage of the four quarters of the globe: America (with feathered headdress); Asia (with censer); Europe (with crown and sceptre showing her assumed pre-eminence over the rest of the world), and Africa (with an elephant headdress). To the far left, Hercules is paired with Minerva, supporting the female figure of Religion; to the right, stand Mars, Victory and the aged figure of Reformation. The latter group trample over real soldiers, whilst Hercules and Minerva represent the moral victory over the vices of Envy and Superstition.