In the 4th century Prudentius's Psychomachia adopted the classical practice of personifying moral qualities as female figures. This approach proved to be highly popular with writers and artists throughout the Middle Ages and beyond.1 In the art, each virtue's personification was typically identified by some traditional attribute or action.
The "theological" virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity were an especially important subject because of I Corinthians 13:13, "And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity." Charity is traditionally pictured with one child at her breast and another at her feet, as in the second picture at right. She will sometimes be included in images of saints
(example).
The attribute for Faith is a chalice, as in the first picture at right. For Hope it may be an anchor, wings, or flowers. Another important set comprised the "cardinal" virtues of Justice, Prudence, Fortitude, and Temperance. The identifiers most often associated with them are –
ARRAYS Many works arrange the Virtues into an array, such as at the tomb of Peter Martyr, with its life-size figures of the theological and cardinal virtues plus "Obedience," or the three theological virtues along the bottom of Tintoretto's Baptism of Christ. The selection and iconography of the array of virtue figures at Sant'Alvise, Venice, seem intended for the edification of the nuns of the convent attached to that church.
Prepared in 2020 by Richard Stracke, Emeritus Professor of English, Augusta University. Revised 2021-07-01.
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