Allegorical Figure Representing a Virtue, Possibly Patriotism

A standing female figure in pale grisaille draws a drapery across her body and lifts a wreath in each hand, while a small cloud or cushion of drapery rests at her right. She stands on a rocky plinth against a dark oval ground, with faint Roman-style letters at the top and sides. The work is painted in monochrome tones, giving it a sculptural, relief-like quality.

Look closer: Faint lettering in the upper oval edge and along the sides, partly legible and not readable as a clear inscription.

Artist

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

Date

1760

Medium

Fresco, transferred to canvas

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

2825 × 3881 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Grace Rainey Rogers, 1943