Allegory of Temperance
Artist: Luca Giordano (Italian, 1634-1705)
Series: Modelli for the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence
Date: Early 1680's
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: The National Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Description
This modello, or detailed oil study, is one of a group of 12 that Giordano made in preparation for the ceiling frescoes in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in 1682–85. Ten of the modelli are in the National Gallery's collection, and this one represents one of the four Cardinal Virtues. First identified by the philosopher Plato, these were later adopted by the Roman Catholic Church. A different Virtue is depicted in each corner of the ceiling.
Here the Virtue is Temperance, shown as a young woman wearing an armoured breastplate and leaning on an elephant, then regarded as strong but cautious animals. Beside her stands Sobriety and together they triumph over Sloth (languishing on the left), Envy (in the centre) and Hunger (to the right, chewing on a bone). The figures flying above the scene are probably Voluptuousness (holding a winged sphere and fish hooks), Youth (in the centre) and Tranquility (with a cornucopia and a white bird in a nest).
