Allegory of the sea

This allegorical canvas personifying the sea — likely executed during Strozzi's Venetian years given its mythological-maritime subject — reflects the city's centuries-long self-identification with the Adriatic. Venice had mythologized its maritime dominion through annual ceremonies such as the Sposalizio del Mare (the doge casting a ring into the sea), and allegorical representations of ocean deities or personified seas decorated palaces and churches throughout the republic. The Finnish National Gallery's acquisition speaks to the wide dispersal of Venetian and north Italian Baroque paintings across European collections, particularly through the eighteenth-century art market. Strozzi may have depicted a Nereid, Thetis, or a generic marine goddess — the precise iconography depends on surviving attributes in the canvas — but the subject allowed him to explore the lush, warm flesh tones he favoured in allegory while referencing the maritime culture surrounding him in Venice.

Allegories of elements or natural forces typically presented Strozzi with opportunities for expansive, loosely draped female figures. His sea personification likely exploits cool greens and blues in the background or drapery to evoke water, contrasting with warm flesh tones. Paint application in such works tends toward confident, sweeping strokes that complement the subject's freedom from narrative constraint.