Friendship (Amicitia)

Engraving, part of a series of nine oval prints with allegorical representations of the virtues, and with a kind of exergue on the bottom containing an inscription of the virtue represented. The virtues are represented by female figures endowed with their attributes and landscapes in the backgrounds. In most cases, the attributes are composite and recall other virtues, suggesting that the person who possesses one virtue can have them all. Delaune seems to insist, particularly, on the virtues of wisdom, peace and piety as the basis for the development of other virtues. In this print, Friendship is represented by a standing woman, her head tilted to the right, her left hand holding her right breast and showing an open wound, from which she has pulled out her hear, which she holds on her right hand, extended to the side. This is a common representation of Friendship, although it is also reminiscent of representations of Charity and Concord: two doves (attributes of Concord) are on the ground, to the left of her feet, and to her sides are two palm trees, whose roots interlace below her, also adding a reference to Justice and Virtue. All the attributes surrounding the female figure are in pairs, suggesting ideas of friendship, fidelity, love, and accord.