ABSTRACT
In the long history of visual art, painters have frequently endowed their pictures with moral content. The art of painting was, for long periods, largely given over to the presentation of individuals, actions and events that were held to be noble or good or worthy of respect and were presented as such. An account of the moral vocation of pictorial art was advanced by Ruskin. This chapter investigates whether the general contention that paintings can contribute to moral understanding – can be sustained. It examines and contrasts two very different works, one by Sassetta and one by Poussin. Both have overt moral content but only the Poussin makes a contribution to moral understanding. In the discussion of the painting by Sassetta, the rationale for the moral evaluation was not itself in any way present in the picture. The 'rationale' for a moral evaluation places that evaluation within a framework; it paints in 'the background picture which underlies our moral intuitions'.
