Lairesse, Gérard de (1641-1711)
The Allegory of Constancy
c.1685
Oil on canvas, 126 x 123 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
The painter and significant art theorist was greatly influenced by the French neoclassicists, which later earned him the nickname of the “Dutch Poussin”. This work, probably part of a series on the virtues, depicts an allegory of constancy. Despite the sensuality of the young girl seated in the focus of the composition, she exudes a sense of dignity. With a resolute gesture, she rejects the string of pearls and the mirror; symbols of vanity. The triumph of the virtue of constancy is reinforced by several other motifs: the broken arrow of Cupid, the embodiment of carnal desire; the figure of Danaë, condemned to a life of chastity by being imprisoned in a brass tower, who appears in the circular relief on the wooden chest; and the statue of the “unapproachable” Pallas Athene, virgin goddess of wisdom, visible in the background. (MFAB)