Allegory of Earth 1655 - 1665

Charles Le Brun created this drawing called *Allegory of Earth* using pen and brown ink with brown and blue wash. Le Brun, as court painter to Louis XIV, was a major force in defining the visual culture of the French Baroque. In this drawing, we see a classically inspired scene, but it’s essential to consider how the very concept of the “classical” has been used to uphold specific ideas about power, race, and gender. The figures, idealized and draped, are representative of European standards of beauty, and their presence reinforces a hierarchy where such ideals are elevated. The "allegory" flattens the lived realities, the dirt and the sweat, that shape our connection to the earth. What does it mean to create allegories that mask the true labor and complex negotiations between humans and nature? This tension is at the heart of understanding the social and cultural context of art like this. It’s an invitation to consider whose stories get told and whose are left out of the frame.