Virtue Triumphant over Vice
ca. 1536–38
Medium
Etching
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1927
Accession Number
27.78.2(132)
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Virtue Triumphant over** is a striking etching by Andrea Schiav (Andrea Meldola), a Venetian artist active around 1536–38. Created during the Renaissance, this print embodies the era's fascination with moral allegories, pitting divine virtue against earthly vice in a dramatic visual narrative. Schiavone, by Mannerism, blended the bold colors and sensuality of Venetian painting with the precise line work of Central Italian masters like Parmigianino, making his prints innovative bridges between painting and graphic art. The composition likely features symbolic elements such as angels, birds, ...
About the Artist
Andrea Schiavone (Andrea Meldola) · 1510–1563
Andrea Schiavone, born Andrea Meldolla around 1510 or 1515 in Zara (modern Zadar, Croatia), in Venetian-ruled Dalmatia, hailed from a family rooted in Meldola near Forlì in Romagna, Emilia-Romagna. His father, Simon Meldolla, served as a garrison commander there, and both parents originated from Meldola, where the family held property into the early 16th century. Nicknamed "Schiavone"—"the Slav"—a...