Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Temperance
(Renaissance Europe )
The virtue of temperance is personified by a young woman, in over half-length, pouring liquid from one gilt tazza into another. Her sparsely draped figure is seen from the back, in three-quarters view to the right. Her hair is brought around her head in two plaits knotted at the central part. She casts a shadow against a niche imitating jasper, flecked with glazes of dark red, blue and yellow.
The iconography of this piece as well as Walters 44.188 is decidedly Italian, not French. It is to be related to the practice of High Renaissance Italian sculptors of placing the cardinal virtues in the niches of tombs, a practice followed in France (cf. E. Panofsky, "Tomb Sculpture," New York, 1964, pp. 74 f.).
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Castle [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Blenheim Castle Sale, London, June 14, 1883, no. 66; Lucien Cottreau [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Sale, Paris, April 28-29, 1910, no. 54; J. Pierpont Morgan [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henri Daguerre, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1928, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 1889 | Exposition Universelle. Paris. |
| 1874 | Special Loan Exhibition of Enamels on Metal. South Kensington Museum, London. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4/1955 | Treatment | coated; cleaned |
| 5/5/1965 | Treatment | cleaned |
| 11/4/1987 | Treatment | cleaned; examined for condition |
Geographies
France, Limoges (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 10 13/16 x W: 8 3/8 in. (27.5 x 21.2 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1928
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
44.187
