Fortitude, one of the four Cardinal Virtues, is seated on a lion resting on a column. She is being crowned with a laurel wreath by Honour. To the left is Constancy resting on an anchor and placing her hand in a flaming brazier. The cowering figure represents Fear, and in the centre foreground is Misery. The heroic figure on the right is Valour.

This painting is one of a group of 10 modelli, or elaborated oil studies, made in preparation for the fresco projects that Giordano created for the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence. This painting is connected with the ceiling of the Galleria.