America

In this engraving, Amerigo Vespucci is depicted arriving in America. The unclothed female figure on the right, an allegorical personification of America, seems to have been just woken up by the European visitor – indeed the text at the bottom translates as, “Amerigo discovers America & he called her once and thenceforth she was always awake”.

The parallel between sleeping and primitiveness is further emphasized by the attributes given to both characters. In contrast to Amerigo’s standing clothed figure bearing an astrolabe, the Southern Cross, and the ships behind him, America seems to possess no technological, scientific nor religious systems. This is also manifested in the unorganised space where animals move freely and where native Americans are depicted engaging in cannibalism. Such visual representations created both gendered and colonial discourses.