Audentia (Boldness)

Another first appearance in this series, the Virtue Audentia, meaning Boldness or Fearlessness, rides in. She is depicted here as a recently chosen rodeo queen in her formal performance attire and is accompanied by her faithful horse.

Much of the symbolism in this design draws from the biblical story of Esther as a wonderful metaphor for the attributes of Audentia. In the story, Esther is a young woman who comes from a conquered nation and is both an ethnic and religious minority in her situation. Despite these challenges, and after months of rigorous training in etiquette and presentation, she is chosen as the best candidate for the queenship on all accounts, is crowned, and marries the king of Persia, Ahasuerus. He was known as a stern man who thought of himself as the most powerful man in the world at the time and ruled with authority, expecting complete obedience from everyone around him. With all of this intrigue at play, and the fate of the former queen looming over her actions, Esther prepared to leverage her position and relationship with the king, using a fearless boldness, to ultimately secure the salvation of her entire people from the grips of a genocidal conspiracy. It is with this level of boldness that Audentia appears in this design.

Upon further inspection, roses and thorns surround Audentia in various locations throughout this design, representing both the beauty and danger of boldness, encouraging the viewer to be thoughtful of choosing the correct moment, exercising patience until that moment comes, and confidence in their actions when the moment does present itself. The viewer will see elements of this story such as a scroll representing decrees designed to cause targeted and retaliatory harm to good folks, the king’s scepter representing the grace that rewards boldness, and ropes that represent the vindication that will hang the designers of such evil decrees when boldness brings them to light. It is very fitting that the caption below Audentia reads “Doubt Not, Fear Not”.