Two women representing the alliance of Peace and Abundance 1627

Curator: Bartolomeo Coriolano’s print, made around 1627, now residing at the Metropolitan Museum, offers an allegory: “Two women representing the alliance of Peace and Abundance.” Quite a mouthful, isn’t it? Editor: It is! And my immediate feeling is… classical statues caught in a sepia dream. It's that ancient grace, but softened by the printmaking process, like a memory. Curator: That's perceptive. Note how he employed engraving techniques to imbue it with texture—a remarkable departure from simple lines. The draping of their garments isn't just decoration; it conveys a symbolic language itself. Editor: Absolutely! The abundance figure, positively overflowing with flowers, her drapery, much more free-flowing compared to Peace's restrained garb… It feels less like a serene pronouncement, and more like the promise of things to come after some needed and somber moment, and now, suddenly… she's carrying such heavy abundance. You see that anxiety of carrying the weight? Curator: I think I do, yes, now that you point it out. In allegorical images from this period, the figures always embodied key characteristics. But to make her ever so slightly tired… adds nuance to her joy. It subtly critiques naive idealism perhaps. Editor: It’s funny, I find these Baroque allegories both beautiful and slightly ridiculous. Like, "Here, have some symbolism served on a platter!" I think Baroque artists want you to feel the emotions with them so, if it's peace and abundance it comes served this way, I guess... What could Coriolano be wanting us to really take from the cultural memory associated to Peace at the time? Curator: I find it fascinating how artists used recognizable imagery, almost shorthand symbols, to evoke certain emotional responses. Olive branches equal peace; overflowing cornucopias equal wealth. This shorthand speaks volumes to cultural consciousness and expectation in the baroque period, what values they consider of outmost importance. And so well rendered... Editor: Yeah, I see the way these symbols work on me even now. Despite myself. Still, as an artwork, it leaves you wanting something more subversive to it. It is a sweet view overall. And in that sepia light… the work is beautiful enough in its old dreams of better things to come, the composition itself feels almost weightless somehow. It almost seems like the picture is speaking itself from the realm of the ideals rather than the earthly plane. I guess… that’s why I feel so peaceful afterall?