Temperance, from "The Virtues" (Les Vertus)

A draped female figure stands in a wooded landscape, holding a vessel against her side while her cloak sweeps behind her. Her gaze is lowered and her posture is calm. Fine parallel hatching models the cloth and foliage, and a distant town fades along the left horizon. Two lines of Latin text run along the bottom margin.

Look closer: A distant walled town with small buildings lies along the left horizon.

Artist

Abraham Bosse

Date

1636

Medium

Etching

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

2598 × 4000 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951