Originally painted to hang above a door in Venice’s Palazzo Barbaro, this composition is designed to be viewed from below. Four luxuriously attired women cluster around a pedestal clutching treasures in silver and gold. At the base of the pedestal, a golden peacock—attribute of the goddess Juno—hints at the women’s location at the Roman Temple of Juno Regina. Livy’s History of Rome recounts how the city’s matrons brought offerings from their dowries to the temple to appease Juno during the Second Punic War.
