Alegoria da Riqueza

Simon Vouet spent years in Italy soaking up its light and color, then was called home by Louis XIII in 1627 and quickly became the busiest painter in Paris. Around 1640 he made this for one of the king's country houses, part of a set of shimmering allegories to dress the royal rooms. A seated woman in gold, heaped with jewels and coins, looks upward while cherubs attend her. For nearly two centuries it was simply called Wealth. Then curators reconsidered what she is doing. In 2015 the Louvre changed the title to the Allegory of Faith and the Contempt for Wealth, reading her raised glance as a turn away from the treasure in her lap toward something higher.