# Allegory of Fortitude

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/tosini-michele-r8c1ecf5618fdf8/allegory-of-fortitude-rb8a158a9ce8948>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [TOSINI, Michele](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/tosini-michele-r8c1ecf5618fdf8>)
- Date: 1501-1550
- Technique: Oil on panel, 73 x 55 cm

## Commentary

This bust-length painting of a woman in classical costume represents an allegory of Fortitude, one of the four cardinal virtues. She is identified by her two most common attributes, the column which she grasps with both hands, and the lion, whose head is emblazoned on a decorative clasp at her chest. In the representation of Fortitude, Tosini followed Renaissance iconography developed by, among others, Botticelli, &lt;a onclick=&#34;return OpenOther\(&#39;/html/b/botticel/1early/09fortit.html&#39;\)&#34; href=&#34;/html/b/botticel/1early/09fortit.html&#34;&gt;whose Fortitude from c. 1470&lt;/a&gt; influenced generations of Florentine artists such as Tosini.

## Related artworks

- [Holy Family with St Elizabeth and the Young St John the Baptist \(detail\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/tosini-michele-r8c1ecf5618fdf8/holy-family-with-st-elizabeth-and-the-young-st-john-the-baptist-detail-r0ddf6fce56cf7d>)
- [Holy Family with St Elizabeth and the Young St John the Baptist](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/tosini-michele-r8c1ecf5618fdf8/holy-family-with-st-elizabeth-and-the-young-st-john-the-baptist-r5e3af8fe58a1a1>)
- [Lucretia](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/tosini-michele-r8c1ecf5618fdf8/lucretia-r9fc51c2f8d2bc0>)
- [The Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/tosini-michele-r8c1ecf5618fdf8/the-martyrdom-of-the-ten-thousand-r635a2fed8a194b>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)