In the mentality of the Modern Age, the figurative depiction of a monarchy surrounded by the continents was seen as an expression of power. And the fact that Europe, Asia, Africa and America appear in this representation is akin to saying that the monarchy’s power embraced the whole world.

In 1786 Juan Antonio Salvador Carmona engraved a short series of plates representing The Four Parts of the World (Europe, Asia, Africa and America)—whose originals are kept at Calcografía Nacional and one of its complete editions belongs to the holdings of the BBVA Collection—based on the paintings of the same title by Luca Giordano (1634-1705) kept at the Royal Palace. Apart from the individual titles, all four engravings have the same inscriptions: on the bottom left corner, “painted by Lucas Jordan”; on the bottom right corner, “engraved by Juan Ant. Salvador Carmona”; under the title, the dedication: “Dedicated to HM the PRINCE by Juan Ant. Salvador Carmona. The original painting exists in the Royal Palace of Madrid”. His dedication of these beautiful prints to Prince Charles (1748-1819), the future King Charles IV, earned him the title of Engraver of the Prince of Asturias’s Chamber, a new post that had never been conferred before. In 1789, when the prince acceded to the throne as King Charles IV, Juan Antonio Salvador Carmona became Engraver to the King’s Chamber.

From a technical viewpoint, this four-plate suite is an excellent example of the feature that best defines his output: an impeccable rendering of the effects of chiaroscuro. Iconographically speaking, these are imaginary portraits based on stereotypes and fragmentary visions of each continent, but they do include many of their characteristic elements and have served as support for other later figurations and symbols. When painting these allegories, Juan Antonio Salvador Carmona followed the classic precepts as compiled by the Italian iconographer Cesare Ripa (1560-1622) in the late sixteenth century in his celebrated treatise Iconologia overo Descrittione Dell’imagini Universali.

In the case of this engraving, made using , the main character is an allegory of America. A female figure, semi-naked and wearing a feather headdress, is carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows. At her feet, a group of little children are playing with an alligator while another two are holding birds in their hands. One can also see various fruits and plants, in allusion to the wealth of the continent. Depicted on the left of the engraving is the arrival of the Spaniards to America: a large ship is anchored in the background while the boats carrying the soldiers ashore can be seen in the middle ground. Illustrating the ferocious resistance against the European invasion is the human body lying on the ground in the centre with an arrow through his head. Seated on clouds in the top right corner, we see a female figure —an allegory of Europe or perhaps of Spain— with a crown and sceptre, reclining on a lion, a symbol of justice and power, a reference to the discovery of the continent of America by the Spanish crown. The scene is completed with a background of a prominent cloudscape.