The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 27, 2025

Temperance (from the Tarocchi, Series B: Cosmic Principles & Virtues, #34)

before 1467

Master of the E-Series Tarocchi

(Italian, active 1400s)
Italy, Ferrara, 15th century
engraving, hand-colored with gold
Platemark: 18 x 10.2 cm (7 1/16 x 4 in.); Sheet: 20.9 x 15.2 cm (8 1/4 x 6 in.)
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1924.432.34
Catalogue raisonné: Hind E.I. 34a
Location: 101B Prints & Drawings

Did You Know?

Desirable character traits, such as Temperance, seen here, were often portrayed as beautiful women in the medieval and early modern periods.

Description

This engraving is part of the group marked with the letter B, and named Cosmic Principles and the Virtues, comprising the three universal principles (Light, Time, and Space) alongside the three theological virtues (Faith, Hope, and Charity) and the four cardinal ones (Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice). The latter were regarded as the basic Christian principles required for a virtuous life.

Here personified as a full-length female figure, Temperancia (Temperance) is about to pour the liquid contained in the pitcher she is holding with her left hand into another vessel held in her right hand. Next to her, on the left corner, is an ermine or a weasel, looking at his own reflection in a small round mirror.
  • ?–1914
    (P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., Ltd., London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)
    March 13, 1914
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • In Vino Veritas (In Wine, Truth). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 7, 2025-January 11, 2026).
  • {{cite web|title=Temperance (from the Tarocchi, Series B: Cosmic Principles & Virtues, #34)|url=false|author=Master of the E-Series Tarocchi|year=before 1467|access-date=27 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1924.432.34