October 2022
European Cultural History
Group Assignment 2
Maarten Manse
Group B:
Anja Zeilhofer
Gigi Emanuels
Jessica Lever
Victoria Tubman
, In the collection Four Continents by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, there’s a continuous figure of a sexualized woman who
symbolizes virgin territory. The woman in the image does not have stereotypical Asian features, which is also seen in the two
other continents of Africa and America. The artist Tiepolo, chose to not include stereotypical features of the continents such Palm branches are commonly grown in
as skin color or facial features. The woman in the image is made in a western ideal, a white woman fetishized into the mold southeast Asia. The Christian church
that is approached hence, the usage of cultural clothing and objects instead of physical (met). The symbols within the image believes that palm branches symbolize
display Europe's relations, stereotypes and trades with the continent of Asia (Spira, 2021). the victory of the faithful over enemies
of the soul, as well as abundant
fruitfulness, upright growth,and
flexibility. In Islam, palm branches
The camel in the image
symbolize rest and hospitality. It is
represents the spice trade
believed that an oasiswith palm trees
between the continents
surrounding it is water gifted from
(SouthAsia and Europe).
Allah (Rhys, 2021).
Europeans were particularly
fond of spices and used them
to season food, and even as The woman of the image expresses the luxury of
medicine. Common spices Persian Court life which is seen bythe gold and
were pepper, sugar, and jewels she bears. The Achaemenid Persian
empire had expanded tremendously all the way
herbs. Spices were also used
to parts of north Africa, central Asia and
by Europeans to prevent bad
northern India. Yet, much of Persian history is
odorfrom Churches to
extracted from Greek writers and their
Brothels (Cartwright, 2021) perception of the empire. Hence, there was a
great focus on Greek and Persian
relationship/trade and theglamorized Persian
Title: Allegorical Figure Representing Asia Court Life (Metmuseum,2019).
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (Italian, Venice 1727–1804 Venice)
32 1/4 x 41 3/4 in. (81.9 x 106 cm)
Image source: Metmuseum.org, 2022, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437811?ft=asia&.