Where justice naked is

A couple of weeks back I promised to post images of the paintings of naked ladies embracing that decorate the Marble Closet at Bolsover Castle. mantua_maker has sent me the photos she kindly took at my request, so here they are. If you click on the thumbnails you will see larger versions.

I cannot stress too strongly that this is not erotica. This is Moral Instruction. Well, that is the excuse, anyway.

Having had time to think about it, I figured out what is going on here. (I should have realised straightaway, but never mind. They are rather overwhelming in the – flesh, so to speak.)

The paintings are, of course, emblems, inviting an allegorical reading. Here we have Justice (with sword and scales) embracing Prudence (with serpents – ‘Be ye … as wise as serpents’ [Matt. 10:16]).

Why are they snogging with such enthusiasm? To show the depth of the attachment between them. What is Justice without Wisdom? Or Wisdom without the practical execution that is Justice? One inspiration for these images was, I am pretty sure, Psalm 85 verse 10: ‘Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.’

But why don’t they have any clothes on? The answer took me a while to see, but then it was blindingly obvious; it’s because they are Virtues, and Virtue is traditionally naked and unadorned. Virtue is so intrinsically beautiful and precious it does not need adornment. And it is so truthful that it rejects concealment.

I had a pleasant time tracing an early source for the concept of ‘naked virtue’. I guessed at the Roman world, since virtue (virtus, f.) is a Roman concept, not, primarily, a Christian one. Also the idea had obvious affinities with the image of naked truth – ‘nudaque Veritas’, Horace, Odes 1:24. I ran it to earth in Petronius: ‘nuda virtus’, naked virtue (Satyricon 88). Just the sort of kinky text one can imagine appealing to Sir William Cavendish, actually. I am sure he knew the image came originally from the Satyricon, though I suspect that by the Renaissance it was also to be found in the emblem books. I haven’t had time to check that last point yet. In the Satyricon, incidentally, the phrase is used in a speech by a seedy old pederast.

This is Fortitude (identifiable by the pillar, which is toppling to remind us of the fortitude shown by Samson, the archetypal suicide terrorist, in Gaza [Judges 16:29–30]). The woman gazing at her yearningly is said to represent Patience. I suppose it makes sense that Fortitude is often required to embrace Patience, and Patience Fortitude. Patience is holding, rather awkwardly, an object that seems to be some kind of press. I don’t know why, and would love to be told.

And this is Hope, identifiable by the traditional anchor (on the left hand side near the bottom; largely lost in the murk; see Hebrews 6:19) snuggling sexily up to Faith. Why Faith is holding a socking great mallet or hammer (which is also in shadow and hard to make out) is another thing I have not been able to discover.


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