|
Prudence
Engraver: Galle, Philip (1537-1612) (?)
Artist/Creator: Brueghel, Pieter (ca. 1525-1569)
Creation Date: 1559
Place of Publication: Antwerp
Publisher: Cock, Hieronymus (1510-1570)
Date of Publication: 1560
Technique: Burin engraving
Size: 22,5 x 29,5 сm
From the Series: Seven Virues
Number: V
Part of: Western European Prints Collection
Two styles of printmaking were practiced by artists in Netherland during the sixteenth century: romantic style, affected by Italian Renaissance art, and the native Netherlandish tradition. Scenes of rural life, views of towns and villages, allegorical and moralizing prints are considered the most important achievements of the native Netherlandish printmaking school. The pre-eminent source of such engravings and etchings were the printing house of the Antwerp print publisher and printseller Hieronymus Cock, established in 1550. Cock was also a talented graphic artist and a noted engraver of prints. The best artists and the leading engravers of the time worked for Cock.
In the early 1550s, a renowned artist Pieter Bruegel began to made drawings for engravings published by Cock's firm. Among Bruegel's drawings, created as designs for prints at the request of Cock, are two series representing the Seven Vices and the Seven Virues. In his works from these series, Bruegel consciously echoes the manner of his famous contemporary Hieronymus Bosch. All drawings from these series survive, they are held in diverse collections in Western Europe.
The Seven Vices series includes seven depictions of the Deadly Sins (Anger, Sloth, Pride, Avarice, Gluttony, Envy, Lust) and the final composition The Last Judgment. It was drawn by Brueghel in 1556 - 1557 and engraved by Pieter van der Heyden in 1558.
The Seven Virues series was executed in 1559 - 1560. It contains seven images of the Cardinal Virtues (Faith, Hope, Charity, Justice, Prudence, Fortitude, Temperance) and final composition The Harrowing of Hell. Cock produced the series in 1560 - 1561 without mention of the name of the engraver (probably, Philip Galle engraved it). Brueghel depicts human virtues showing scenes of real life. Works from this series preceded the artist's greatest achievements - a series of paintings illustrating the Seasons.
At the bottom of the print, representing Prudence, there is a Latin inscription: "If you wish to be prudent, be considerate about the future, envision everything that can happen".
The virtue of Prudence is portrayed as women, standing on thin steps of a fire ladder. The figure of Prudence is at the center of the scene; she is holding her attribute, a mirror as a symbol of self-knowledge. The characteristic feature of Prudence is foresight, therefore, she leans against a coffin as memento mori. On her head is a sieve for separating weeds from the grain, good from evil.
The figures around her also try to make provision for the future. Is their prudence true or false? A nun, preparing the meal, cares only for extinguishing a fire under a boiler. A sick man does not bother about saving his soul and the last Communion; he cares only for a diagnosis, which will make a doctor from a urine sample. To the right are a family salting meat for a winter, and a sitting boy hiding a coin into a bitten pear. In the middle of the activity are two figures, who cannot solve an age-old problem, what would be better for them: to carry money or to keep it in a chest, to spend it or to save? Many people are busy making preparations for a winter: some of them are filling a barn with firewood, workmen are repairing a ramshackle house, shearers are carrying packs of the wool on their backs. Beyond is a sail vessel transporting goods.
|