In 1590 Ligozzi created a series of elaborate, allegorical drawings of the Seven Deadly Sins (six still exist). This painting, which is a fragment, depicts the central figures of the allegory of Avarice, the drawing for which is in the National Gallery, Washington. As described in emblem books, Avarice is shown as a pale woman holding a bag of money. The threatening skeleton suggests that the artist was inspired as well by other representations of the vice in either literature (perhaps Dante) or the visual arts.