A Family Group with Children with Emblems of the Cardinal Virtues

Flemish School. Oil painting on canvas, A Family Group with Children with Emblems of the Cardinal Virtues, Flemish School, possibly Pieter Thys (1624 - 1677), circa 1660-70. A man and his wife with their two sons and two daughters in a landscape, equipped with various devices symbolic of the four Cardinal Virtues. The father stands at the right holding out a bit, the reins of which are taken by his small son (Temperance); next to him his wife is seated, and standing beside her is the elder daughter who holds a sceptre decorated with an eye and sun-rays (Wisdom); the second daughter stands at the right holding a column (Constancy); the eldest boy, in Roman dress, kneels before his mother, supporting a set-square (?Justice). At the right are books, musical instruments, and a globe, presumably representing Arts and Sciences. Attingham Park, Shropshire (Accredited Museum)