Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577 - Antwerp 1640), The Triumph of Truth, 1622-25, oil on canvas, 394 x 160 cm, Paris, Musée du Louvre

The Virtues: Truth.

The painting is the last of 24 that Rubens painted to decorate the western gallery on the first floor of the Luxembourg Palace, built in those same years by Maria de' Medici, Queen of France and wife of King Henry IV, who wanted to make it her residence.

Eugène Delacroix (Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798 - Paris 1863), Liberty Leading the People, 1830, oil on canvas, 360 x 325 cm, Paris, Musée du Louvre 

The Virtues: Liberty. 

Eugène Delacroix's famous painting takes its cue from an event that really took place: in July 1830, from the 27th to the 29th, the people of Paris rebelled against the government that King Charles X had set up the year before. They made barricades and forced the king to dismiss the government, cancel the liberticidal laws that had been enacted and finally abdicate by fleeing to England.

Luca Giordano (Naples 1634 - 1705), Allegory of the divine Wisdom, 1680 circa, oil on canvas, cm 138,5 x 65,2, London, National Gallery 

The virtues: the divine Wisdom 

Luca Giordano was called by the marquis Francesco Riccardi to fresco some rooms built to expand the Florentine palace that the rich family had bought in 1659 from the Medici, their allies. This model, or detailed oil study, is part of a group of 12 that Giordano made in preparation for the ceiling frescoes of Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence in 1682-85. The general theme of these highly elaborate and impressive frescoes is the progress of humanity through wisdom and virtue.

Giulio Cesare Procaccini (Bologna 1574 - Milan 1625), Peace chasing War, c. 1610, oil on canvas, 235 x 171 cm, Paris, Musée du Louvre 

The Virtues: Peace 

The beauty and power of this painting lies in the contrast between the two protagonists on the canvas, Peace and War, personified respectively by a young woman and a mature man with a beard.

The delicate and gentle figure of Peace occupies the left side of the painting, while War occupies the right side. But we notice a movement of the two figures, from left to right, which tells us that soon Peace will be the only protagonist, because War is about to leave the scene.

Piero del Pollaiolo (Florence 1441 - Rome 1496), La Temperanza, 1470, tempera grassa on panel, 168 x 90.5 cm, Florence, Uffizi Museum 

The virtues: the Temperance 

We would also like to begin this reflection with the words of Pope Francis, who dedicated the audience on Wednesday 17 April to the last of the "cardinal" virtues, the Temperance. And he reminded us that it “is the virtue of the right measure. In every situation, one behaves wisely, because people who act always moved by impulse or exuberance are ultimately unreliable. People without temperance are always unreliable. In a world where many people boast about saying what they think, the temperate person instead prefers to think about what he says. Do you understand the difference? Not saying whatever comes into my mind, like so… no: thinking about what I have to say. He does not make empty promises but makes commitments to the extent that he can fulfil them.”

Piero del Pollaiolo (Florence 1441 - Rome 1496), Prudence, 1469-72, tempera grassa on panel, 168 x 90.5 cm, Florence, Uffizi Museum 

The Virtues: Prudence 

Pope Francis dedicated his Wednesday 20 March audience to the first of the "cardinal" virtues, prudence. And he reminded us that “Prudence is the capacity to govern actions in order to direct them towards good; for this reason, it is dubbed the “coachman of the virtues”. Prudent are those who are able to choose. As long as it remains on paper, life is always easy, but in the midst of the wind and waves of daily life it is another matter; often we are uncertain and do not know which way to go. The prudent do not choose at random: first of all, they know what they want, then they weigh the situation, seek advice, and with a broad outlook and inner freedom, they choose upon which path to embark”.

Piero del Pollaiolo (Florence 1441 - Rome 1496), Justice, 1469-72, tempera grassa on panel, 168 x 90.5 cm, Florence, Museo degli Uffizi 

The Virtues: Justice. 

Last April, Pope Francis - who has dedicated all of this year's general audiences to the vices and virtues - spoke about the second of the 'cardinal' virtues, Justice, in his Wednesday 3 April audience.

He began his catechesis by saying that justice ‘is the social virtue par excellence. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines it thus: “The moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor” (no. 1807). This is justice. Often, when justice is mentioned, the motto that represents it is also quoted: 'unicuique suum', that is, “may all get their due”. It is the virtue of law, which seeks to regulate relations between people with equity'.

Sandro Botticelli (Florence 1445 - 1510), The Fortitude, 1470, tempera grassa on panel, 167 x 87 cm, Florence, Uffizi Museum 

The Virtues: The Fortitude. 

With the month of April, our journey of discovery of the virtues takes a step forward and we enter the first of the so-called 'cardinal' virtues, namely the Fortitude. If we open the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it tells us that " Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions, and guide our conduct according to reason and faith. They make possible ease, self-mastery, and joy in leading a morally good life. the virtuous man is he who freely practices the good. The moral virtues are acquired by human effort. They are the fruit and seed of morally good acts; they dispose all the powers of the human being for communion with divine love. " (No. 1804).

Piero del Pollaiolo (Florence 1441 - Rome 1496), Charity, 1469-70, tempera grassa on panel, 168 x 90.5 cm, Florence, Uffizi Museum 

The Virtues: Charity 

This month, leading up to Easter, we examine the third of the theological virtues, Charity. Art historians tell us that this was in fact the first panel of the cycle of virtues painted by Piero del Pollaiolo and that it was presented to the heads of the Tribunale della Mercanzia in order to obtain the work: the proclamation in fact foresaw the execution of seven panels to represent all the virtues, both the "theological" and the "cardinal" ones. The work was liked and so the painter was contracted to execute the other works as well.

Piero del Pollaiolo (Florence 1441 - Rome 1496), La Speranza, 1469-72, tempera grassa on panel, 168 x 90.5 cm, Florence, Uffizi Museum 

The virtues: Hope 

We continue to examine the pictorial cycle dedicated to the Virtues that was commissioned to Piero del Pollaiolo in 1469 and destined for the Audience Room in the Tribunale di Mercanzia in Piazza della Signoria in Florence.

Before examining the second painting in the cycle, let us recall what we mean when we speak of the "theological" virtues (faith, which we wrote about last month, hope and then charity). In the Catechism of the Catholic Church we read: “the theological virtues relate directly to God. They dispose Christians to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity. They have the One and Triune God for their origin, motive, and object.  The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character. They inform and give life to all the moral virtues. They are infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being. There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity”. (Nº 1812-1813).

Piero del Pollaiolo (Florence 1441 - Rome 1496), The Faith, 1470, tempera grassa on panel, 168 x 90.5 cm, Florence, Uffizi Museum 

The Virtues: Faith

In this New Year, we would like to offer for reflection and contemplation figures of women that we can certainly define as "special": these are the personifications that artists of the past have made in an attempt to represent the virtues. They are always depicted as women as if to emphasise the indissoluble link between the 'habitual and firm disposition to do the good' (definition of virtue found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1803) and the female gender.

This first work, depicting Faith, is part of a cycle of paintings dedicated to the Virtues, commissioned to Piero del Pollaiolo in 1469 and destined for the Sala dell'Udienza of the Tribunale di Mercanzia (the body that heard the commercial disputes of Florentine merchants and administered justice among the members of the arts & crafts) in Piazza della Signoria in Florence.