How did Pallas and the Centaur portray chastity and lust?

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Sandro Botticelli: Birth of Venus — Sandro Botticelli *Birth of Venus*, tempera on canvas by Sandro Botticelli, c. 1485; in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.

In Sandro Botticelli’s painting Pallas and the Centaur (c. 1480–85), the artist utilizes allegory to illustrate the triumph of virtue over base instincts. Specifically, the work depicts the subjugation of male lust by female chastity.1

In this composition, the figure of Pallas—representing wisdom and chastity—is shown restraining the centaur, a creature traditionally associated with wild, untamed, and lustful behavior in classical mythology. By portraying Pallas in control of the centaur, Botticelli emphasizes the moral victory of disciplined reason and purity over the uncontrolled desires of the flesh.1