Schoonheid (Bellezza) geadviseerd door Voorzichtigheid (Prudentia), wijst de verleidingen van Dwaasheid (Pazzia) af 1783

Jean Marie Delattre created this print of "Schoonheid (Bellezza) geadviseerd door Voorzichtigheid (Prudentia), wijst de verleidingen van Dwaasheid (Pazzia) af" during a period when Neoclassicism dominated European art and society emphasized reason and moral virtue. Here, three female figures, Beauty, Prudence, and Folly, play out an allegory of choice. Beauty, guided by Prudence, rejects the intoxicating grapes offered by Folly. The scene encapsulates the era’s concern with moral instruction, but what does it mean to see these concepts embodied by women? During this time, women were often portrayed as either paragons of virtue or sources of temptation. Delattre's print uses this visual language to promote a message of female virtue and the importance of rational decision-making, aligning with the didactic function of much art from this period. Ultimately, this work encourages us to consider the complex ways in which women were represented and how their roles were defined within the framework of 18th-century moral and philosophical debates.