"The Triumph of the Will—The Challenge," ca. 1877

Jacques-Joseph (James) Tissot

The painting was created to decorate the artist’s study in his home on Gloucester Place in London. “Will” is represented by the noble figure of a woman in armor, standing with a drawn sword over a sprawled creature—a hybrid of a beautiful young woman and a supple, fearsome leopard. According to the artist’s conception, this is an allegory of victory over carnal temptation: pythons and vipers personify human vices and passions, while the surrounding figures—Courage and Silence—help Will prevail over lust.

"The Sensual Ones," 1889

Victor Pouget

It illustrates the second canto of "Hell" from Dante's "Divine Comedy": the poet observes how a hellish whirlwind punishes sinners who have succumbed to carnal sin.

“Anyone wishing to conquer a people could do it by using this system: breaking its ties with heaven and land, introducing fratricidal quarrels and fights, promoting immorality and licentiousness, by material ruin, physical poisoning, drunkenness. All these destroy a nation more than being blasted by thousands of cannon or bombed by thousands of airplanes.”

~Corneliu Zelea Codreanu

“Kotopahi,” 1862

Frederick Edwin Church
(1826–1900)

Giovanni Lanfranco, David Dragging The Head of Goliath