Netherlandish School, c. 1525

The present lot represents a sequence in the struggle between Virtue and Death. In the first painting the personification of Fortitude, or Chastity, rides a unicorn and overtakes a winged Cupid in a dramatic encounter, alluding to the power of reason over physical temptation. In the second painting, Death holds a skull, the classic vanitas symbol, and similarly triumphs over the once mighty reason. Seen as a progression, the pair may be read as a didactic lesson in the way to lead a noble life: reason should supercede primal love, and death supercedes all worldly aspirations.