Allegory of the Continent of Asia

Maulbertsch here portrays the Orient – the countries of the East – in the form of an allegory (when figures or objects are used to signify abstract concepts or a moral meaning). A turbaned woman holds a pole topped with a crescent moon and star, symbols of the powerful Ottoman Empire. She is accompanied by a man who also wears a white turban, and a magnificent white-golden coat. Figures with a camel appear in the darkness on the left, while on the right a crouching man pours coffee. Above, Venus, holding a flaming torch, represents the morning star – another reference to the Orient.

Such representations were common in eighteenth-century depictions of the four continents – Asia, Europe, America, and Africa. This picture may have been part of a series, though no related works are known. Despite the spontaneity in Maulbertsch’s dazzling brushwork, this oil sketch is probably a finished work painted around 1750.

© The National Gallery, London

Painting photographed in its frame by Google Arts and Culture, 2023.