Allegory of Peace (1490 ca.) by Agnolo di Domenico del MazziereBiennale Internazionale dell'Antiquariato di Firenze
Allegory of Peace
Peace is a beautiful and young lady. Her beauty lays in her simplicity: she has no need of makeup, jewels or elaborate clothes to enhance her nature.
The youth of Peace is connected to the symbolism of the two plants portrayed with her. The lady holds a branch of olive tree, which is the universal symbol of harmony, while the young oak tree in the background foresees longevity and robustness.
Peace can rests soundly on armours and broken swords: they have no use in a time of harmony.
Allegory of Charity
Charity is a woman dressed in fiery red, like the intensity needed in practicing it. The woman is breastfeeding a baby while she is surrounded by others. Despite being outnumbered by them, she calmly handle the situation because it is in her power. Indeed, the other two Theological Virtues, namely Faith and Hope, cannot exist without Charity.
Allegory of Patience
Patience is a chained woman: in her iconography there is often a water clock, whose drops over time will dig up the stone to which she is imprisoned and will set her free.
Time is therefore the centre of the narrative: the strength of Patience is not in her ability to endure, but lays in her perseverance in remembering that suffering is not everlasting. That's because Patience always has an end.
Galleria Leone Allegory of the Painting winning over Sculpture (0) by Mattia PretiBiennale Internazionale dell'Antiquariato di Firenze
The art sisters: painting and sculpture
In the world of allegories, in addition to moral qualities, women embody arts and techniques too.
Painting winning over Sculpture
In this allegory, the painter Mattia Preti portrays the art that he masters winning over her rival: Sculpture. With pride, the crowned winner shows a drawing representing the painter.
Allegory of Sculpture
A woman is awarded with a laurel crown for excelling in the art of sculpture. She holds in her hands her working tools and a sculpture which seems almost blessing its maker.
Allegories of Fame and Geometry
Around 1620, the painter Massimo Stanzione made these paintings representing the allegory of Fame, which holds her crown and trumpet, and the allegory of Geometry busy with her tools for measurements.
In portraying the scenes, artists placed women as the centre of a symbolism that is rich in meanings and of easy comprehension for their contemporaries.
We would like to thank: Galleria Enrico Frascione, Galleria Alberto Di Castro, Frascione Arte, Carlo Orsi and Leone Art Gallery
We are grateful to Luigi de Benedetto for curating the contents.
