Fortuna was originally depicted with a ship's rudder, as can be seen on the Roman four god stone, which is kept in the Bonnefanten museum. Later this usually became the wheel of adventure.
On the gable stone IN LADY FORTUNE, however, Lady Fortune stands on a globe. What is missing is the waves on which this globe floats, but the sea breeze is still depicted in the blowing hair. This motif was quite popular in the days when the Dutch sailed the world's seas, gaining a lot of luck and profit for the merchants, and the ordinary sailor could use some luck if he wanted to survive these adventures.
Lady Fortune was the embodiment of adventure and luck, which was not easy to catch. That is why this lady was depicted almost naked, because after all those who are dressed can easily be grabbed by their coat tails.
The gable stone of Boschstraat 97 comes from Rechtstraat 106. A stone with a similar meaning but different design was placed in the facade of Maastrichter Brugstraat 20. It showed a wheel with the caption IN THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE 1721. However, the house was also called "in the wheel of adventure". Adventure and fortune were apparently one and the same thing.
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