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unusual facts about Four Cardinal Virtues



Freemasons' Hall, London

The ceiling cove is of Mosaic work and in addition to figures and symbols from Masonic ritual includes, in the corner, figures representing the four cardinal virtuesPrudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice – and the Arms of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (youngest son of Queen Victoria) Grand Master 1901–1939, at whose suggestion the Masonic Peace memorial was built.

Josias English

He was an intimate friend and a pupil of Francis Cleyn, the manager of the Mortlake Tapestry Works, and etched numerous plates in the style of Wenceslaus Hollar, after Cleyn's designs; these include a set of eleven plates, etched in 1653, entitled "Variæ Deorum Ethnicorum Effigies, or Divers Portraicturs of Heathen Gods", a set of four representing "The Seasons", a similar set of "The Four Cardinal Virtues", and a set of fourteen plates of grotesques and arabesques.


see also

Cardinal virtues

A humorous depiction of the four cardinal virtues appears in the children's book "Masterpiece" written by Elise Broach and illustrated by Kelly Murphy.