Allegorical Figure of a Woman with a Club (Fortitude?)

Unknown artist

Tiepolo was the leading decorative painter of the 18th century, whose work was admired and commissioned throughout Europe. This oval canvas and its companion –two paintings of a series of four –were undoubtedly part of a large decorative programme in a formal room of a Venetian palace (palazzo). The four oval canvasses were meant to be hung high up, so that the gold ground would reflect the candlelight.