Temperance is a cardinal virtue that resonates with the opulent pleasures that our modern lives are driven by and accustomed to. As a virtue, temperance is one’s ability to moderate desires and pleasures that can overpower one’s will and morality. It deals with the human impulse and its tendency to lose itself in the material and bodily pleasures of this world.

The virtue of temperance is depicted as a woman offering a pitcher of temptation while wearing an expression that questions and challenges us. The pitcher is a test of temperance for the viewer. It poses a test that enquires our ability to resist and to be mindful of our indulgences. Are we just mindless consumers, driven by our primitive desires? Or are we the ones in control of our needs, wants and appetite?