The Spirit of Plenty

Edme Bouchardon, in Rome from 1723 to 1732, took an ancient torso and added to it, transforming it into the spirit of plenty. What we now see is a nude girl seated on a cornucopia from which flowers, fruits, jewellery and coins are spilling, leaning slightly forward to offer roses in her right hand. The torso came from the collection of Cardinal Melchior de Polignac, a great admirer of classical antiquity. As French ambassador to the Vatican he had organized numerous excavations in the vicinity of Rome. The girl’s natural grace is portrayed in a French rococo style.