The four canvases were executed by Gaspare Venturini at the beginning of the last decade of the 16th century as ceiling decoration for Cesare d’Este’s library in the Palazzo dei Diamanti. The fate of the House of Este was by then written, only a few years separating it from the loss of the territory of Ferrara (1598), so the works can be considered the last major commission before the Devolution. The canvases followed the Duke to Modena as early as 1598, confirming the importance Cesare attached to these works.
The four canvases are articulated horizontally developing a celebratory programme of the House of Este and more generally of the virtues of good government. The allegories in the paintings were studied by Professor Sonia Cavicchioli, who proposed an interpretation.
In the first painting there are exclusively female figures, starting from the left, the first represents Religion or Modesty dressed in white and has her face covered by a light-coloured veil, next to her other women hold weapons in their hands (an axe, a bundle of rods and a lance), a probable allusion to the aristocracy. In the centre the two facing figures represent Temperance or Judgement and Glory, one with the attributes of a square and a morsel and the other of a pyramid. The right-hand portion depicts Sollecitude as a woman wielding a spur and Humility with a lamb.
The second canvas depicts the four Cardinal Virtues preceding in procession a woman dressed in the antique style with a laurel crown on her head carried on a quadriga, behind which is painted a large white eagle, the symbol of the Este family. The procession is articulated by the pairs of Virtues: Justice with sword and scales and Prudence, with mirror and serpent; further on are Temperance, intent on pouring liquid from two jugs, and Fortitude clutching a column. Two winged genii open the procession.
The third allegory represents the Este eagle intent on punishing the Vices. The animal, symbol of righteousness, is placed in the centre of the painting and is pounced upon by a figure clutching two sacks of coins in its hands, which can be identified with Avarice or Theft; next to it is a mask alluding to falsehood, while at the sides are Deceit and Heresy.
In the last canvas, the allegory refers to Vices and the dangers in which good governance could incur. In the two central figures are Adulation, with the attributes of the stag and the trumpet, and Pride. Around them develops a sequence of allegories including Ambition, Fraud, Greed and Gluttony accompanied by animals, such as the pig symbolising gluttony, the monkey alluding to cunning and the dog here a probable symbol of flattery.
These complex and numerous allegories were conceived to exalt the House of Este and, probably, to legitimise Cesare’s affiliation to the House as well as to the government of the Duchy at a time when the imminent Devolution was in sight.
