Allegory - A Knight's Dream - Vision of a Knight

Raphael Sanzio

1504-1505

In this painting a Laurel tree divides the scene into two different outcomes. The sleeping knight represents the Roman general Scipio Africanus (236 - 184 BC)  in a dream where he is deciding to choose between Venus (pleasure) and Minerva (Virtue).

Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom as well as a sponsor of arts, trade, and defense. Behind her is a clear path which symbolizes dutiful work that leads to a castle. 
Venus, in the looser robes, is the Roman goddess of love, and behind whom is a steeper, rockier path that leads to the sea. 

The items held by the two represent their ideals: the book and sword suggest the ideals of scholarship, law, and defense. The flower suggest the ideals of a lover. The knight contemplates both as he daydreams. 

The most likely source for the allegory depicted is from a passage in the Punica, an epic poem recounting the Second Punic War (also known as the war against Hannibal) by the Latin poet Silius Italicus. 

Minerva - Elihu Vedder (1836–1923) Library of Congress

In the sky the clouds of disaster and discouragement are rolled away, and the sun begins to emerge. Although Minerva’s shield and helmet have been laid upon the ground, the goddess still holds a long, two-headed spear, showing that she never relaxes her vigilance. "Not unwilling, Minerva raises a monument more lasting than bronze"    

 

The Birth of Venus - Sandro Botticelli - 1485 

Based on an ode by Hesiod, the painting shows the aftermath of Venus's creation, pushed along by the Gods of the winds, Zephyr and Aura, who, on the first day of Creation, elevated this shell bearing Venus' from the unknown depths of the sea. One of the Graces, in the name of all three, is there to cover her with her cape.  The shore she is landing on is very rugged and already has tall laurel and myrtle trees. 

The Three Graces - Raphael Sanzio 1504-1505

The second of these small paintings done congruently by Raphael shows the three graces holding a apple which is said to symbolize a reward for the young knight for choosing virtue over pleasure.