virtu

Noun

vertu (uncountable)

1. (historical) The fine arts as a subject of study or expertise; understanding of arts and antiquities.
   • To give them their Due, they ſoar a Step higher than their Predeceſſors, and may be called Men of Wiſdom and Vertù (take heed you do not read Virtue).1750, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling, volume III, London: Printed for A[ndrew] Millar, →OCLC, pages 238–239
2. (historical) Objets d'art collectively.
   • A Catalogue of a Truly Valuable Assemblage of Articles of Virtu of William Chinnery, Esq. Brought from Gillwell, Essex[…].1812, William Chinnery, A Catalogue of a Truly Valuable Assemblage of Articles of Virtu of William Chinnery …, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, title page
3. Especially with reference to the writings of Machiavelli (1469–1527): the requisite qualities for political or military success; vitality, determination; power.
   • All these connotations, even the positive and moral ones, are within the range of significations Machiavelli wants us to hear in “virtù.” For him the word suggests a kind of flexibility that can initiate effective, efficient, and energetic action based on a courageous assertion of the will and an...1976, Niccolò Machiavelli; James B. Atkinson, transl., The Prince [The Library of Liberal Arts; LLA-172], Indianapolis, Ind.: Bobbs-Merrill Company, ISBN 978-0-672-51542-2; reprinted as Indianapolis...
4. Moral worth; virtue, virtuousness.