Temperance

A winged figure pours liquid between two cups, one foot on land and one in the water, an iris blooming at the pool's edge. Pamela Colman Smith drew the card in 1909 as measured flow — the patient blending that gives the card its name. On the figure's breast, a square and triangle; on the path behind, a crown of light between two peaks. Smith completed the full deck in a matter of months for a flat fee, uncredited for the better part of a century. Find the stream running between the vessels, and the small 'PCS' monogram at the lower edge of the plate.

Maker

Pamela Colman Smith, for A. E. Waite

Date

1909

Medium of the original

Tempera

Original held by

Published London, 1909 · scan: Wikimedia Commons

Credit

Published London, 1909 · scan: Wikimedia Commons

Rights

Public domain, verified

Catalogue number

PA-00441