The Virtue Screen: An 18th Century Biombo at Virginia House

An eighteenth century Mexican folding screen or biombo is located at Virginia House in Richmond, Virginia. A similar three-paneled screen is also located at this site. Upon seeing the similarities between each screen I concluded that the seven panels were at one point a part of one folding screen. The top sections of these folding screens show emblems that depict images of virtues and vices. The source of the emblems on the Virtue Screen is Otto Van Veen's Homtii Emblemata. The text on the screen is taken from a Spanish translation of the Horatii Emblemata entitled the Theatro Moral de toda la Philosophia de los Antiguos y Modernos. This thesis will examine each emblem in a panel-by-panel discussion as well as the iconography found throughout the screen. It will also provide a brief history of the folding screen with its origins in Asia and a comparison of similar screens that have been discovered in the Western Hemisphere.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Art History

Year dc:date.available

2006

Author dc:creator

• Carrera, Jacqueline

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Michael Schreffler

• Richmond
• Virginia
• panel
• iconography
• screen
• Arts and Humanities

Statement dc:rights

• © The Author

Identifier

https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1183

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-2182