Vasari and a writer of the XVII century mention a statue by Donatello of
La Dovizia, which stood in the Mercato Vecchio in Florence. This statue
is described as representing a maiden bearing on her head a basket of
fruit. The statue is lost, but two existing statuettes of the della
Robbia school, in addition to our own (both inferior to ours), are
probably reflections of the Donatello Dovizia. In one, in the Buonarotti
Museum, we see a maiden supporting on her head, with her right hand, a
basket filled with flowers and fruit. A similar statuette in the Berlin
Museum carries a cornucopia as well as a basket. Both are called Pomona.
The cornucopia, however, is the classic attribute of Ceres and of
Abundantia, or, in this case, Dovizia, the Italian version of Abundantia.
That our statuette is intended as a personification of riches or abundance
rather than as Pomona becomes yet clearer when we examine the inscription
on the base: GLORIA ET DIVITIE IN DOMO TUA, “May Honor and Riches Be
Within Thy House.” The boy and dog give a touch of domesticity to the
group. They express “within thy house,” revealing Dovizia as a household
goddess.
[Virgil Appearing to Dante, Tapestry. Florentine, Middle of XVI Century]