Allegory of Wisdom and Strength

Moralizing themes from ancient Greek and Roman mythology became popular subject matter in Venetian painting in the 1500s. Here Wisdom is personified as a woman draped in lustrous silks, assuming a noble stance and projecting divine enlightenment. Strength, in the form of Hercules, slouches behind her and contemplates the vanity of worldly riches scattered at her feet. Commissioned by wealthy patrons for aristocratic households, this genre of history painting is distinct from the religious subjects painted for churches. Paolo Veronese served both markets, and often produced appealing allegorical canvases, including this one. This is a reproduction engraving after Veronese's painting in the Frick Collection in New York.