Allegory of Virtue and Vice (Veronese)
Allegory of Virtue and Vice | |
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New York, New York |
Allegory of Virtue and Vice or The Choice Between Virtue and Vice or The Choice of Hercules is a painting by Paolo Veronese, created circa 1565 in Venice, Italy and now located in the Frick Collection. It is a large-scale allegorical painting depicting Hercules' struggle between virtue and vice, personified here by the figures of the two women physically pulling him in different directions.
Subject
In the painting, Virtue appears to be winning the struggle over Hercules, but Vice has torn Hercules' stocking and still reaches out her hand toward him. Concealed behind her skirt is a dagger and a statue of a sphinx. On the stonework above the scene, an inscription reads "[HO]NOR ET VIRTUS/[P]OST MORTE FLORET (Honor and Virtue Flourish after Death)."[1] As an allegory, the job of this painting is to convey a moral message, that of the superiority of virtue over vice.
The genre of allegory contrasts with Veronese's well-known tableaus of historical and biblical scenes, such as the
Provenance
The Choice Between Virtue and Vice and Wisdom and Strength have traveled together since their creation, through many prestigious owners and collections. Because of this, many scholars assumed that Veronese painted them as a pair. In 1970, Edgar Munhall was the first scholar to suggest that they were simply made at the same time, not as pendants.[3] Work undertaken by scholars at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the 2000s confirmed that the two were made individually.[4]
From its creation in Venice, this painting traveled through the hands of
References
- ^ "The Choice Between Virtue and Vice".
- user-generated source]
- ^ Mundhall, Edgar, "Masterpieces of the Frick Collection", 66.
- ISBN 9781588393654.
- ^ "The Frick and la Serenissima: Arts from the Venetian Republic". July 2016.