HOEFNAGEL, Jacob
(b. ca. 1575, Antwerpen, d. 1630)

Allegory of the Humanist Virtue

1599
Red chalk, heightening in white, 199 x 148 mm
Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest

This sheet depicts a naked female figure who has survived a shipwreck and reached the shore. It is an example of a work using symbols to convey abstract ideas. Its theme is linked the central issue of Neo-stoic philosophy, i.e. the endless struggle between Fortuna and Virtue.