Peter Paul Rubens’s The Four Continents personifies the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and America as beautiful women, lounging nude with the male personifications of their major rivers: the Danube, the Ganges, the Nile and the Río de la Plata. It’s a lush, sexy scene heightened by the surreal presence of wild beasts, upended decor, and putti playing on the edge of danger.
