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

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.