Meekness

Meekness, painted in 1752 and held at a National Trust property (likely Uppark), is a devotional allegorical work in the mode of companion pieces to Purity of Heart and other virtue personifications. As a group, these small devotional allegories formed a program of moral and spiritual instruction appropriate for a country house chapel or private study. The virtue of Meekness — humility, gentleness, the submission of the will — was a cornerstone of Christian moral theology, one of the Beatitudes, and its personification as a gentle female figure with downcast eyes and soft coloring was a natural choice for Batoni's luminous female figure style. The 1752 date aligns with the Fetherstonhaugh family's Roman visit and suggests this devotional work was part of the same extended commission.

Oil on canvas in a likely small devotional format. The personification of meekness requires visual restraint: downcast or lowered eyes, pale soft coloring, a pose of submission rather than authority. Batoni's warm skin tones and gentle light create the atmosphere of spiritual calm appropriate to the virtue. A lily or dove may serve as attribute.