Rhetoric, part of a set of allegories of the liberal arts and the sciences

Engraving, part of a series of six plates with allegories of three liberal arts and three sciences, personified by female figures surrounded by grotesque motifs. These allegories are endowed with attributes that somewhat correspond to the science or the art they evoke. This print represents Rhetoric, personified by a central female figure, standing with her head turned three-quarters to the right, crowned by a laurel wreath, holding in her right hand a palm, her left hand supported by a stone tablet. The laurel wreath, an insignia of superiority, is applied here to Rhetoric, likely suggesting that it is the most important science, for it allows for the development of other sciences. The palm, an attribute of most virtues, might be employed here to symbolize the sucess of the letters and the arts. Finally, the tablet seems to be an equivalent of the paper scroll or the book that often figure in representations of Rhetoric. The female figure stands inside a niche framed by laurel leaves, flanked to the sides by two cornucopias, from which hang two additional laurel wreaths. In the lower part of the frame, to the sides of the niche in which Rhetoric stands, are two men, possibly Socrates and Plato, crowned with laurel wreaths, looking up at the central figure. Under their feet are two pitchers with overflowing water, flanking a crab that is in the center, right below the female figure. Above the crab is a cloth festoon, flanked above by a palmette. The inner frame of the scene is flanked by scrolling motifs of different types.