The Prudence (Cardinal Virtue): On her breast is an effigy of a winged Gorgon to ward off deceit and fraud. Janus-like; her head has two faces shown in profile. Her youthful feminine face looks forward into a mirror. This is an allegory of wisdom and knowledge of the present. The backward-facing visage of the old man peers into a past for sound judgment predicated on experience. - Detail of 'The Cardinal and Theological Virtues' a lunette fresco by Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio) (1483-1520).Three of the cardinal virtues (Fortitude; prudence; temperance) are personified as statuesque women seated in a bucolic landscape and the theological virtues are depicted by putti. - Painted in the Stanza della Segnatura (Room of the Signatura; Salle de la Signature; Saal der Signatur) between 1509 and 1511 as a part of Raphael's commission to decorate the rooms now known as the Stanze di Raffaello (Raphael Rooms; Chambres de Raphael; Stanzen des Raffael); in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.Vatican museums. 2021.