Three virtues Diligentia

The central figure is shown in profile, draped in voluminous robes and wearing a headscarf, resting against a massive stone plinth and a large column. She holds a long-handled whip in her left hand and a spur in her right, signifying the tools needed to drive away sloth and maintain industriousness. The landscape in the distance features modest buildings, providing a contrast to the grand, crumbling architecture of the foreground.

In the early modern period, Diligence was considered a crucial moral virtue for both the 'Vita Activa' (active life) and the 'Vita Contemplativa' (contemplative life), serving as a prerequisite for the mastery of any art or science. Within the humanist and natural philosophical traditions, it represents the disciplined effort required to extract secrets from nature and achieve intellectual or spiritual refinement.