Allegory of Abundance

Allegory of Abundance, painted around 1747 and now in the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, depicts a personification of plenty surrounded by the fruits of prosperity. The painting demonstrates Guardi's figure painting abilities from the period before he devoted himself primarily to vedute. Allegorical compositions were standard fare for Venetian decorative painters, adorning palace ceilings and walls throughout the city. Guardi's treatment applies the atmospheric, sketchy quality of his later view paintings to figure composition, creating a distinctive approach to allegory that differs from the more polished manner of contemporary Venetian decorative painters like Tiepolo. The Ringling Museum houses one of America's finest collections of Baroque art.

The allegorical figure is painted with the warm palette and fluid handling of the Venetian decorative tradition, with loose, confident brushwork that would later translate perfectly to his atmospheric cityscapes.