Prudence

One of the most accomplished and innovative draftsmen and printmakers, Hendrick Goltzius thrived as an artist in both Haarlem and Antwerp. His artistic output was enormous, bringing him widespread fame and wealth in Holland and throughout Europe. Goltzius embraced an international courtly style that is now known as Mannerism, marking the transformation in art of the idea of the truest expression of truth and beauty as opposed to slavishly copying nature.

This group of allegories represent Virtues and Vices and were likely carried out by Jacob Matham, the artist’s adopted son after designs by Goltzius. The source for the series may have been the allegorical Latin poem Psychomachia. The tradition of representing the Four Cardinal Virtues—Prudence, Fortitude, Temperance, and Justice— as elegantly dressed women goes back to the Middle Ages.