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Georg Gronau fancies the Saint Catherine of the London Madonna is the same female figure which is the central object of this picture. He notes the same "roundness of form", the same profile, and the same "golden hair with its rich plaits entwined with strings of pearls". He also mentions the Girl in a Fur as a point of comparison.
The group was once supposed to represent the parting of Alfonso d'Avalos, Marquis of Vasto, from his young wife, Mary of Aragon, when he was about to set out for war against the Turks. Amor himself, the Goddess of Victory, and Hymen console the grieving lady, who gazes meditatively into a crystal ball she holds in her hand, the symbol of the transient nature of all things human. Relations between this nephew and heir of the Marquis of Pescara and Titian are known to have existed. On 2 November 1531, he wrote to Aretino: "We want to have Titian here, in Correggio; and if you can do anything to further his coming, I shall be very glad." But whether this letter is connected with the picture is rather doubtful, in Gronau's view, as the features of the man in armour of the Allegory are not those of the Marquis del Vasto.Charles Ricketts imagines that the woman who holds a crystal may represent Wisdom or Prudence, and the attendant figures with flowers and wreaths and darts may be the pleasures upon which the armoured warrior turns his back. "Some trite allegory", he writes, "is more likely to be at the root of this 'poesie' than the theory advanced by Crowe and Cavalcaselle that the crystal-gazer is a pensive wife."
Amor poesie Georg Gronau plaits Titian Turks Wisdom Prudence symbol of the transient nature of all things human Marquis of Pescara Aretino allegory wreaths Allegory wreath crystal ball Crowe Correggio Alfonso d'Avalos Hymen Alfonso d'Avalos, Marquis of Vasto pearls Girl in a Fur Saint Catherine Mary of Aragon Goddess of Victory Charles Ricketts Cavalcaselle