# Allegorical Figure of a Woman with a Shield or a Mirror (Prudence?)

- By: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Venice, 1696–1770)
- Date: c. 1740 - 1750
- Medium: canvas, oil paint (paint)
- Classification: grisaille
- Dimensions: height 81 cm x width 65 cm
- Credit line: J.W.E. vom Rath Bequest, Amsterdam
- Museum: [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/SK-A-3438--c5c48bb5903d618e616716131c8107b2)
- Rights: [Public Domain Mark](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)
- Picture: https://iiif.micr.io/BqLmo/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

The female figures in this painting and its pendant are rendered in a limited range of colours, thereby evoking marble or stucco reliefs on a gold ground. Because these decorative paintings were meant to be seen from a distance, Tiepolo did not find it necessary to make the figures clearly identifiable. This woman may represent Prudence (prudentia), and the other one Fortitude (fortitudo) holding a club.