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This is a sketch for a ceiling design, one of a set of three in the collection of Manchester Art Gallery. The building for which the designs were made has not been identified, but it seems likely that there was once a fourth design, as each of Manchester’s three works probably represents one of the cardinal virtues. These are the fundamental good qualities identified from ancient Greek philosophy onwards as prudence, fortitude, temperance and justice. Temperance is Manchester’s missing virtue. Together with its two companions, this sketch had been thought of as being by James Thornhill (1635–1734) since 1964, when it was acquired by the gallery. This attribution was questionable, as the work displays none of the smooth pictorial qualities that characterised English decorative painting in Thornhill’s time.
The personification of Prudence is the central figure with the mirror, a hart at her feet. Knowledge, to the left, holds a book and an oil lamp. Knowledge, to the left, holds a book and an oil lamp. Beside her is Vigilance, the figure looking at the bird. The other figures are harder to interpret. What could the flying figure, carrying hourglasses, represent, for example? Probably not Time, as he seems too young, although that is how he has been interpreted previously: until 2021 the work was known as ‘Time, Prudence and Vigilance’.
Title
Prudence
Date
1715–1725
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 24.5 x W 48.5 cm
Accession number
1964.58
Acquisition method
purchased from Dr A. Scharf, 1964
Work type
Painting