Allegory of Abundance (Female figure with a cornucopia and a child)
Grisaille on panel, approximately 200 x 95 cm
Historical-Critical Note
Rounding out this extraordinary decorative cycle, the third panel reaffirms the solemn formal elegance and stylistic coherence that characterize the entire commission.
The work depicts a majestic female figure, her head encircled by a wreath of leaves, holding in her right arm a large cornucopia brimming with ears of wheat and fruits of the earth—an unmistakable classical symbol of abundance and prosperity. With her left hand, she gently guides a child at her side, who clutches a small bunch of grapes to her chest. Both figures, depicted barefoot and draped in garments with soft yet sculptural drapery, convey a sense of archaic and rural sacredness. 
The scenographic layout adheres to the rigorous architectural style of the other elements in the group: the scene unfolds beneath a wooden coffered ceiling, flanked on the right by an elegant round-arched opening. A curtain stretched horizontally serves as a theatrical backdrop, offering a glimpse through its upper portion of an open horizon and a sky streaked with clouds. The refined grisaille rendering in sepia tones highlights the sculptural volumes and the purity of the lines—true hallmarks of Zappettini’s artistic vision. 
As with his previous allegories, the artist interprets the tenets of the “Return to Order” and the Italian Novecento movement, sublimating his experience as a master decorator and collaborator with architects of the caliber of Giovanni Muzio. This panel ideally completes a triptych of the highest collectible value, serving as a museum-quality testament to the great Milanese interior decoration of the 1930s and 1940s.
