Focus on this artwork and discuss the Description and style.
Leah, the Biblical heroine, is represented as a Roman matron, in classical dress and holding a mirror (which would recall the virtue of Prudence) or a diadem, through which runs her long braid of hair. According to Giorgio Vasari and Ascanio Condivi, Leah is an allegory for an "active life," based on a passage from Dante or Diputatione Camaldulenses by Cristoforo Landino.
In that sense, the two feminine figures might represent two ways of being, but the two ways of salvation are not necessarily in conflict with each other. The contemplative life represented by Rachel prays for its salvation through Faith, while the active life represented by Leah finds its salvation in work.
The communal interpretation of the artwork is that it is a kind of mediation between Reform and Catholicism owing to its association with Vittoria Colonna and her followers.
Cristoforo Landino Prudence Giorgio Vasari Rachel Ascanio Condivi Vittoria Colonna Leah