Allegory

Best known for his portraits, altarpieces, and religious and mythological narratives, Piero di Cosimo created only one surviving allegory. In this painted personification of abstract concepts, a winged woman, largely nude despite her two layers of mantles secured by knots, extends a sprig of juniper and daintily holds a rearing stallion by a string. She has been convincingly identified as Chastity, who effortlessly contains the forces of Lust embodied by her virile steed. The figures occupy a rocky island adorned with barren trees, surrounded by a misty waterscape. The double-tailed mermaid who energetically parts the seas before them may be understood as a siren symbolizing the dangers of carnal passion.

In the Renaissance, recondite allegories such as this often adorned the covers and reverses of portraits, testifying to the virtues of their sitters. Piero’s panel may originally have decorated his likeness of Simonetta Vespucci in the guise of Cleopatra (Musée Condé, Chantilly). The work’s spare execution and delicate gray tonalities, punctuated by the brilliant red of the lady’s costume, would befit this secondary function. The evocative, even impressionistic atmosphere that envelops the figures is typical of Piero, whose powers of fantastic invention are matched by careful attention to the natural prospect.