From the Artist

The print Virtue Triumphs (When the Devil Sleeps) is a loose reinterpretation of one of my least favorite works in art history, An Allegory with Venus and Cupid by Bronzino (1545).

What interested me about the subject matter here was a sort of anti-titillating effect—the original is syrupy-sweet, but my image is more ironic. I wanted the figures to look decadent, exhausted, and spiritless rather than erotic or excited.

The devil character in the background is just waking up hence virtue is not triumphing anymore.
_{—From Brandywine Workshop and Archives records}