Temperance (Temperantia)
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Temperance (Temperantia)
From The Seven Virtues (Antwerp: Hieronymous Cock, c.1559-60)1559
16th century
22.2 x 29 cm (8 3/4 x 11 7/16 in.)
Pieter Bruegel the elder (aka Bruegel, Pieter, I)
Breda, Netherlands c. 1525–1569 Breda, NetherlandsPhilips Galle Haarlem, Netherlands 1537–1612 Haarlem, Netherlands
Classification:
Print
Medium/Technique:
Engraving
Credit Line:
Bequest of the Reverend John J. Kelley
Accession Number:
1966.1.74
Not on display - Available to view by appointment
Artist
Engraved by Philips Galle after Pieter Brueghel
Commentary
Temperance (Temperantia)We must look to it that we do not give ourselves over to empty pleasures, extravagance, or lustful living; but also that we do not, because of miserly greed, live in filth and ignorance.
The figure of Temperance wears a clock atop her head (a reminder of time passing); she holds a bridle (restraint or self-control) and a pair of eyeglasses (clear vision). Temperance stands on a windmill blade, symbolizing the harnessing of nature’s wild energy for productive uses. Surrounding her are figures engaged in a range of scientific and cultural activities representing the traditional Seven Liberal Arts: Arithmetic (accountants calculating sums), Music (both sacred and secular as symbolized by the organist and the lute), Rhetoric (a theatrical performance), Astronomy (measurement of the earth and the heavens), Geometry (architecture and ballistics), Dialectic (logical disputation) and Grammar (a school where children are learning to read and write).
Additional Images
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Cropped
This object was included in the following exhibitions:
- Early Prints from the Rev. John J. Kelley Collection Saint Joseph College Art Gallery , 5/2/1991 - 10/31/1991
- Life Lessons: Sixteenth Century Allegorical Prints from the Low Countries , 3/26/2010 - 6/6/2010
- Selections from the Reverend John J. Kelley Bequest Art Museum, University of Saint Joseph , 3/29/2019 - 6/9/2019
- Plate Dimensions: 22.2 x 29 cm (8 3/4 x 11 7/16 in.)
- Paper Dimensions: 24 x 30.8 cm (9 7/16 x 12 1/8 in.)
- Mount Dimensions: 25.1 x 31.9 cm (9 7/8 x 12 9/16 in.)
Portfolio List
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