an exaltation of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who had concluded a peace treaty with the bellicose kingdom of Naples. In this allegory, the sea be-hind is the Bay of Naples. The centaur represents the uncouth King of Naples, while Pallas—whose gown Botticelli has covered with intricate details, including the emblem of the Medici—represents the wisdom and subtlety of Florence. This reading accords with a key tenet of Neoplatonic thought, in which coarse instincts must be tamed by reason.The periodof Botticelli’s mythological paintingsVICTORY FOR THE MEDICIconcluded with “Pallas and the Centaur,” com-pleted around 1485. A woman holds a centaur—a mythical half man, half horse—by the hair, a ges-ture that tames him. The woman has been identi-fied as either Camilla, a female warrior from Ro-man mythology, or Pallas Athene, Greek goddess of wisdom. Like “Primavera,” this work lends it-self to several interpretations. One theory, which emerged in the 19th century, maintains that it is