The present picture forms part of a group of four allegories representing the four Virtues which are first recorded in an inventory of 1727 of the collection of Charles-Henri, Count of Hoym (see provenance). Although listed as one group, the inventory also states that they were not kept in one place: two were hung in 'le cabinet aux tableaux ' and the other two in 'le petit cabinet sur la terrasse'. Ten years later, when another inventory was drawn up after the death of Count de Hoym, the four pictures were no longer cited as one unit: Prudence and Fortitude are listed nos.55 and 56; Justice and Abundance (previously known as Liberalité) nos.78 and 79. Prudence and Fortitude were then valued at 120 livres. Two years later the second pair were acquired by James Harris and through him entered into the collection of the Earls of Malmesbury, Greywell Hill, Basingstoke, Hampshire, where they remained until sold in 1972. Abundance is now in the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo.
The whereabouts since 1737 of Prudence (the present lot) and Fortitude has not been known until their recent re-emergence.

Although there is no dated documentary evidence connected with the present lot before 1727, a similar composition, although slightly reduced at the sides, was depicted in a painting by David Teniers II (now in the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Schleissheim) of a picture gallery which has been traditionally identified, on the basis of many of the paintings reproduced, as that of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in Brussels where the Prince resided from 1647 to 1656, as Governor of the Spanish Netherlands.

The picture is also the prototype for a print by Lucas Vorsterman and Paulus Pontius (see Engraved) which must have been made before 1658, the year of Pontius's death.

The reverse of the support is stamped with a monogram 'NV' which is probably that of Nicolaas Vriendt, brother of the panel-maker Michiel Vriendt. The same mark is found on the three other allegories of the group. Professor Julius Held, whose research has formed the basis for this catalogue entry, dates the group of allegories, including the present lot, to circa 1630. Nicolaas Vriendt is presumed to have taken over his brother's workshop after the latter's death in 1637. Professor Held's dating of the pictures to circa 1630 therefore asumes that Nicolaas Vriendt produced and signed this panel before
he became master of his own workshop and master of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1637/8.

In a manner characteristic of Rubens, several iconographic elements have been combined in the present composition. The walled crown on Prudence's head is broadly symbolic of the body politic which provides the framework within which the other individual symbolical elements function. The finger which she points to her head indicates the need for intelligent action (see Z. Z. Filipczak, Picturing Art in Antwerp, Princeton, 1987, pp.68-9). Well-established as the attribute of wisdom ('Be wise as serpents', Matthew, 10:15), the serpent may also carry a reference to good health (see R. F. Millen and R. Wolf, Heroic Deeds and Mystic Figures, Princeton, 1989, pp.87-89). With the globe and rudder it is probable that Rubens was invoking Benevolent Fortuna, protectress of the communities and ruler of the Universe (see J. Gronovius, Annotationes ad Gemmas Antiquas Leonardi Augustini, Franeker, 1694, pp.49-50, under 'Fortuna Antiochiae': 'Clavus cum globo fuit ei attributus ab illis qui credebant eam gubernare universum hoc')

There are several intepretations possible as to the symbolism of the double-headed Herm. The clue to perhaps the most convincing, lies in the two double-faced Herms that were in the celebrated collection of Fulvio Orsini. One combined the head of Sophocles with that of Menander - the famous tragic poet with the foremost comic poet. The other joined Herodotus with Thucydides, both recognised as the pre-eminent Greek historians (see Ioannis Fabri ... in Imagines Illustrium ... Commentarius, Antwerp, 1606, p.43, no.67). The presence of these secular historians is perfectly fitting in an allegory that acclaims Prudence, favoured by Fortune. It is known that Rubens made drawings of some of the busts in Fulvio Orsini's collection, although many of these drawings were based on those made by the engraver Theodoor Galle (see M. Van der Meulen, Petrus Paulus Rubenius Antiquarius Collector and Copyist of Antique Gems, Utrecht, 1975, pp.64-66). Among these are the two twin busts, Menander with Sophocles and Herodotus with Thucydides, although the drawing with Thucydides has not survived (see F. Lugt, Musée du Louvre, Inventaire Général des Dessins des Ecoles du Nord, Ecole Flamande II, 1949, pp.31-32, nos.1092, 1097 and 1102) and (see M. Jaffé, Rubens and Italy, Oxford, 1977, p.82, fig.317, where the joined face is identified, mistakenly, as that of Menander)