Cardinal and Theological Virtues (Raphael)

Virtù Cardinali e Teologali

Artist	Raphael
Year	1511
Type	fresco
Dimensions	6.6 m (22 ft) wide
Location	Vatican Museums, Vatican City

The Cardinal and Theological Virtues is a fresco by Raphael as part of his Stanza della Segnatura in the Palazzi Vaticani in Vatican City. It is 6.6m wide at the base. The cardinal virtues are personified as three women in a bucolic landscape, and the theological virtues by cupids:

Fortitude, a woman holding an oak branch, with the branch shaken by the cupid Charity
Prudence, with two faces, looking in a mirror, with a cupid Hope behind her holding a flaming torch
Temperance, holding reins in her hand, guarding a cupid Faith, who points at the sky with his right hand

Another interpretation might see Prudence as holding the reins and Temperance with two faces. Prudence is traditionally called auriga virtutum (the charioteer of the virtues); it guides the other virtues by setting rule and measure and Temperance moderates the attraction of the pleasures of the senses and provides balance in the use of created goods. See the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1806, and 1838).

Description

It was painted in 1511 as the fourth part, after the Disputation of the Holy Sacrament, The School of Athens and The Parnassus, of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. It is located in the Stanza della segnatura and allegorically presents fortitude, prudence and temperance.

Prudence holds up a mirror because she sees the truth clearly. Fortitude's attribute is the lion which she has in her lap and Temperance has a putto in reins, she is tempering him. The fourth virtue, Justice, is depicted in the tondo on the ceiling. Fortitude holds a Della Rovere oak tree and her legs and drapery are derived almost directly from those of Michelangelo’s “Moses”. Prudence has two faces one young looking into a mirror and the other old and bearded looking back. The long loops of Temperance’s bridle continue the curves of the composition. These large reclining figures in bulky fabric aren’t much unlike the great sibyls of the Sistine chapel ceiling.

Gallery

Raphael

Early works	The Kinnaird Resurrection Baronci Altarpiece St. Sebastian Oddi Altar Solly Madonna Mond Crucifixion Three Graces St Michael Portrait of a Man Connestabile Madonna Madonna and Child The Marriage of the Virgin Vision of a Knight St George Colonna Altarpiece Portrait of Perugino ¹ Madonna and Child with the Book

Florentine period	Portrait of Elisabetta Gonzaga ² Portrait of Emilia Pia da Montefeltro ² Portrait of Guidobaldo da Montefeltro Self-portrait Madonna of the Grand Duke Ansidei Madonna Young Man with an Apple Christ Blessing Madonna Terranuova Madonna of the Goldfinch Madonna of the Meadow Esterhazy Madonna Small Cowper Madonna St George and the Dragon La donna gravida Portrait of Agnolo Doni Portrait of Maddalena Doni Madonna of the Pinks Young Woman with Unicorn Madonna with Beardless St Joseph Saint Catherine of Alexandria Canigiani Holy Family La belle jardinière Deposition of Christ Portrait of a Young Woman Tempi Madonna Madonna Colonna Madonna de Bogota

Roman period	Portrait of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese La disputa The School of Athens Madonna of Loreto Aldobrandini Madonna Madonna with the Blue Diadem Portrait of a Cardinal Alba Madonna Niccolini-Cowper Madonna The Parnassus Cardinal and Theological Virtues The Prophet Isaiah The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple Portrait of Pope Julius II Madonna of Foligno Madonna with the Fish Triumph of Galatea Sistine Madonna Madonna della seggiola Madonna dell'Impannata Madonna della tenda The Fire in the Borgo The Meeting of Leo the Great and Attila Deliverance of Saint Peter The Mass at Bolsena Portrait of Bindo Altoviti The Sibyls Ecstasy of St. Cecilia Portrait of Balthasar Castiglione La donna velata Portrait of Tommaso Inghirami Palazzo Branconio dell'Aquila Portrait of Andrea Navagero and Agostino Beazzano Portrait of Cardinal Bibbiena Church of Sant'Eligio degli Orefici Creation of the World Transfiguration Portrait of Pope Leo X with Two Cardinals Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary The Holy Family of Francis I Ezekiel's Vision St. Michael Vanquishing Satan Madonna of the Rose Self-portrait with a friend La fornarina Visitation Portrait of a Young Man Miraculous Draught of Fishes Christ's Charge to Peter Healing of the Lame Man Death of Ananias Stoning of St. Stephen Conversion of the Proconsul Sacrifice at Lystra St Paul in Prison St Paul Preaching in Athens Palazzo Jacopo da Brescia

¹ Also attributed to Lorenzo di Credi ² Attributed

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