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The Wages of Sin and Virtue
The Wages of Sin and Virtue
The Wages of Sin and Virtue
The Wages of Sin and Virtue
The Wages of Sin and Virtue
The Wages of Sin and Virtue
The Wages of Sin and Virtue
The Wages of Sin and Virtue

Photo credit: Carisbrooke Castle Museum

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The iconography suggests the moralising Christian story of the wages of sin and virtue: that immoral behaviour would end in death and destruction. The woman on the left is grappled by a horned and well-toothed devil figure. She is finely dressed, her hair set with a jewelled band, her gloves cuffed and braceleted. By contrast, on the right the woman appears naked, her hair undressed, being gently wrapped in a generous, red-lined cloak by a figure whose facial features, hair and headband suggest the angelic, while wearing a monk’s habit. The subject matter and its form superficially suggest a misericord. Carved in wood in two pieces, the grain suggests oak, with applied gesso for the finer details which are modelled, and as a preparation or ground to take polychromy.

Carisbrooke Castle Museum

Title

The Wages of Sin and Virtue

Date

16th C

Medium

wood with gesso and polychromy

Measurements

H 16.5 x W 20.5 x D 7 cm

Accession number

NETCC: 1985.4717

Work type

Relief

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Carisbrooke Castle Museum

Carisbrooke Castle, Isle of Wight PO30 IXY England

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