For press inquiries related to this exhibition, please email skantono@getty.edu
Virtue and Vice: Allegory in European Drawing
Exhibition
Design for the Central Section of The Mirror of Virtue, about 1594, Cornelis Ketel. Pen and brown ink, brown wash, heightened with white. Getty Museum
This rotation from Getty’s collection explores how European artists from the 16th to 19th centuries made drawings to criticize bad behavior as well as praise virtuous deeds. Drawings of proper and improper conduct range from straightforward examples (charity, lust, and greed) to complex allegories (virtue, decadence, and friendship). Whether warning against sinful ways or celebrating how one should behave, drawings visualized moral codes, political ideologies, and social norms.
This exhibition is presented in English and Spanish. Esta exposición se muestra en inglés y en español.
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Selected Works
Oh! If Only He Were as Faithful to Me
about 1770 – 1775, Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Black chalk and brush with brown wash over black chalk. Getty Museum
An Enchanted Cellar with Animals
about 1655 – 1670, Cornelis Saftleven. Black and red chalk, brush with gray and brown wash, and watercolor. Getty Museum
A Merry Company
about 1644, Jacob Jordaens. Watercolor over black chalk, heightened with white gouache. Getty Museum
A Frog Sitting on Coins and Holding a Sphere: Allegory of Avarice
about 1609, Jacques de Gheyn II. Pen and brown ink. Getty Museum
Design for the Central Section of The Mirror of Virtue Cornelis Ketel
about 1594, Cornelis Ketel. Pen and brown ink, brown wash, heightened with white. Getty Museum
Allegory of Gluttony
1590, Jacopo Ligozzi. Pen and brown ink and brown wash heightened with gold on yellowish brown prepared paper. Getty Museum
Amorous Couple
about 1621, Jacob Matham. Pen and brown ink with red chalk and brown wash, with touches of red opaque watercolor, heightened with white opaque watercolor over graphite. Getty Museum
Embracing Couple or Prodigal Son
about 1880, August Rodin. Pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash with gray opaque watercolor over black chalk, heightened with white opaque watercolor on tracing paper. Getty Museum
Contact
Media Contact: Sidney Kantono