Cesare Gennari was Guercino’s youngest nephew and, like his brother Benedetto, soon joined his uncle's workshop. After Benedetto left for Paris in 1672, Cesare was left alone to manage the studio’s affairs. While staying faithful to the Guercino tradition, towards the end of his career he displayed his own stylistic evolutions, aware of the new developments in the local artistic milieu and market demands. Bearing witness to the trend towards a more aristocratic, formal equilibrium and a gentle pictorial execution is the enigmatic and sophisticated Flora, the goddess of spring. The slender young woman with sensual features turns to look at the observer with the hint of a smile, reflected in her rosy cheeks while, with her left hand, she gently brings a rose to her face and, with the right, displays the mantle in which she holds other flowers.