Allegory of Virtue and Nobility

In this small canvas a group of two female figures and three foreshortened putti from below up stand out against a sky furrowed by clouds. The work is a sketch for a larger composition with an allegorical theme that Tiepolo executed in several replicas for ceilings of villas and private palaces. In the final realizations below the two main figures a third character appears: a seated woman, around whom a bat swirls, covers her face with her hands. Long believed to be allegories of Fortitude and Wisdom, the two women symbolize Virtue and Nobility according to patterns derived from Iconology, the famous treatise by Cesare Ripa.
Virtue is the winged youth holding a spear; Nobility, whom Virtue addresses, is richly attired and holds a statuette of Minerva in her left hand: the two triumph over Ignorance (this is in fact how the third woman can be identified). The two versions closest to our painting are the ceiling of the Palazzo dei conti Caselli in Udine (now Udine, Musei Civici) and a ceiling of Palazzo Barbarigo in Venice (now Venice, Ca’ Rezzonico), dating from 1744-1745. The happy invention of the central group is fixed by Tiepolo with quick, vibrant brushstrokes, especially appreciable in the windswept draperies. The palette is kept clear and bright even in the shaded parts, where the painter shows off a skillful play of backlighting.