Housed in the Galleria degli Uffizi, in Florence, Italy, Fortitude was the first recorded masterpiece by Botticelli.

This work originally belonged to a set of seven panels representing Virtues, intended to decorate the Tribunal Hall of Palazzo della Signoria in Florence.

The most striking color in the work is obviously Fortitude's red robe, which is so elegantly draped off one shoulder and laid across her lap.

[8] The color red, most associated with the extremes of emotion; passionate love, anger, rage, and violence can be symbolic of the strength that we must have when overcoming hardship.

The contrast of the soft, flowing folds in her clothing to the harshness in her metallic armor creates an interesting play on themes of masculinity versus femininity.

Having her centered, pushed forward to the picture plane, and sharply lit focuses the viewer solely on the virtue she represents.

[9] Fortuna was originally “she who brings,” the goddess who permitted the fertilization of humans, animals, and plants; thus was she worshiped by women desiring pregnancy, and the gardeners seeking bumper crops.

His works abound with sophisticated reflections of his knowledge and deep appreciation of literature including – besides Dante – the Bible, Livy, Ovid, St. Augustine, Boccaccio, Alberti, and Poliziano.

[13] In Renaissance art and culture, personifications that had taken on unclassical appearances during the Middle Ages were restored to classical forms – such as the idealization of the human figure – but also retained some aspects of medieval imagery.

[17] The Tribunale di Mercanzia was the body that decided on the business disputes between Florentine merchants and administered justice among the guilds, known as Arts.

[18] Later, these panels would be moved to the Uffizi, when the wealth and heritage of the Renaissance judiciary were absorbed by the Chamber of Commerce in 1777.

At the time of their commission in the fifteenth century, the Mercanzia was of prime importance in Florence's economic life.

[19] Botticelli could count on the help of Tommaso Soderini, one of the Mercanzia commissioners, and because of his intrusion, the painters’ guild amended their statutes to protect its members from other outside interference.

[20] Soderini was one of the most prominent members historically of an influential Florentine patrician family and was elected as gonfalonier for life in 1502.