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.
Image credit: The Mirror of Virtue, about 1594, Cornelis Ketel. Pen and brown ink, brown wash, heightened with white. Getty Museum.
