ALESSANDRO ALLORI (FLORENCE 1535-FLORENCE 1607)
Fortitude, Prudence and Vigilance
Pen and ink, wash, white heightening, over black chalk, partially squared in black chalk, on paper washed buff | RCIN 906018
In 1578 Francesco de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, commissioned the completion of an earlier fresco cycle in the family villa at Poggio a Caiano, outside Florence. Over a door in the Salone, Allori painted personifications of Fortitude trampling a dragon, Prudence seated on the globe and Vigilance standing on military trophies, all symbolising the triumph of the Medici.
