Marie Katharina Prestel, Virtue Overcoming Vice, 1781, etching and aquatint on paper, 12 1/16 in. x 8 7/8 in. (30.7 cm. x 22.6 cm.), Maria Katharina Prestel's spectacular print faithfully reproduces, although in reverse, Jacopo Ligozzi's drawing with its gold highlights from around 1590 (Albertina Museum, Vienna).Ligozzi's eerie design pits beauty against monstrosity: a serpent coils around the male figure's legs, its dog-like head suggestively protruding from between them. To the left, a large-headed grotesque spews out a river of bile. The powerful female figure raises her arm to strike her opponent while treading on his hand and grabbing his hair, recalling Donatello's famous statue Judith Killing Holofernes. The subject previously identified here as 'Truth Conquering Envy' is in fact 'Virtue Conquering Vice.' The allegory of Envy appears most often as an aged woman rather than as a male. In Ligozzi's related painting The Allegory of Virtue, Love Defending Virtue, Virtue appears in a long flowing garment with bared breasts like the female victor shown in this print.
Keywords:
Marie Katharina Prestel, Virtue Overcoming Vice, 1781, etching, aquatint, paper, 12 1/16 . x 8 7/8, 30.7 cm. x 22.6 cm., Maria Katharina Prestel's spectacular print faithfully reproduce, although, reverse, Jacopo Ligozzi's drawing, gold highlights, 1590, Albertina Museum, Vienna, .Ligozzi's eerie design pits beauty, monstrosity, serpent coils, male figure's legs, dog- head suggestively protruding, left, large-headed grotesque spews out, river, bile., powerful female figure raises, arm, strike, opponent, treading, hand, grabbing, hair, recalling Donatello's famous statue Judith Killing Holofernes., subject previously identified, 'Truth Conquering Envy', fact 'Virtue Conquering Vice.', allegory, Envy, aged woman, male., Ligozzi's related painting, Allegory, Virtue, Love Defending Virtue, Virtue, long flowing garment, bared breasts, female victor shown, print
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