How does Allegory of Virtue and Vice (Veronese) elucidate its Subject?
In the painting, Virtue appears to be winning the struggle over Hercules, but Vice has torn Hercules' stocking and still reaches out her hand toward him. Concealed behind her skirt is a dagger and a statue of a sphinx. On the stonework above the scene, an inscription reads "[HO]NOR ET VIRTUS/[P]OST MORTE FLORET (Honor and Virtue Flourish after Death)." As an allegory, the job of this painting is to convey a moral message, that of the superiority of virtue over vice.
The genre of allegory contrasts with Veronese's well-known tableaus of historical and biblical scenes, such as the Marriage at Cana as well as with the less formal works of other Renaissance Venetian painters like Giorgione or Titian. This work, along with "Wisdom and Strength," also in the Frick Collection, is believed to be Veronese's first in this style. These two works are also thought by scholars to be his first to cross the Alps.
Vice Virtue Marriage at Cana Renaissance Wisdom and Strength Titian allegory Giorgione Frick Collection sphinx Hercules