Allegory of Faith by Johannes Vermeer
The painting, Allegory of Faith, located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was created by the Dutch Baroque painter Johannes Vermeer. This study of the painting will focus on the subject matter, composition, and the symbolic meaning of the painting in relation to the Catholic faith, as well as the controversy surrounding the success of the painting among modern critics. The characteristic Baroque qualities of this painting will be illuminated through comparison with examples of Dutch 17th century paintings, Vermeer’s other works, and an analysis of his painting technique and style.
The Allegory of Faith is considered to be one of Vermeer’s least successful works by some art historians.<<1
Edward Snow. A Study of Vermeer (Berkley: University of California Press, 1979) 110. >> The painting features a large, pale skinned woman, whose one foot is resting on a globe while she’s staring nowhere in particular in what would appear to be a state of ecstasy. <<2
Anthony Bailey. Vermeer: A View of Delft (New York: Henry Holt, 2001) 179.>> Her left arm is lying on what looks like an altar with a gold chalice, an open Bible, and a crucifix, while her right hand is holding her left breast. <<3
Bailey 179>> On the marble floor there is an apple with a bite taken out of it along with a snake crushed by some masonry. <<4
Bailey 179>> There is a curtain hanging unconvincingly against a chair and a glass sphere hanging from the ceiling.<<5
Snow 110>> Finally, on the wall in the background, hangs a painting of the Crucifixion, which has been identified as a work by Jacob Jordaens, a Flemish painter. <<6
Bailey 179>>
The Allegory of Faith was possibly painted for the Catholic chaplain in The Hague, Pere Leon, although it ended up with a Protestant collector before it was sold. <<7
Bailey 179>> Even so, the work would have probably been better titled Allegory of the Catholic Faith.<<8
Daniel Arasse. Vermeer: Faith In Painting (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1994) 84.>> This is because its main function is most definitely to be a representation of faith as defined by the Roman Catholic Church. <<9
Arasse 84>> The glass sphere, attached to the ceiling by a ribbon, for example, was taken ...
... middle of paper ...
...hs 61>> Still the most important aspect of Vermeer’s work is the atmosphere created by his use of light. <<52
Fuchs 61>> It seems to scatter throughout the scene, gently touching the colors while being slightly modified by them. <<53
Fuchs 61>>
In conclusion, the Allegory of Faith presents an interesting and innovative, if somewhat controversial, effort on Jan Vermeer’s part. Despite the uncharacteristic choice of subject matter, the painting still possesses most of the qualities of his later work. It also underscores Vermeer’s allegiance to Catholicism, despite the Netherlands falling under Protestant control. Finally, it is a significant and somewhat unusual work in the Baroque period of art history.
Bibliography
Arasse, Daniel. Vermeer: Faith In Painting. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1994.
Bailey, Anthony. Vermeer: A View of Delft. New York: Henry Holt, 2001.
Fuchs, R. H. Dutch Painting. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978.
Pops, Martin. Vermeer: Consciousness and the Chamber of Being. Ann Harbor: UMI Research Press, 1984.
Snow, Edward. A Study of Vermeer. Berkley: University of California Press, 1979.
End Notes
which cover his waist and some of his torso. He is holding a very tall, slender cross in his left hand, while looking with a diffused look to the right. Also, to the left of him (to the right from the viewer’s perspective) there is a sheep lying upon a rock.
Two of the most extensively analyzed works of art are Diego Velasquez's Las Meninas and Jan Van Eyck's Arnolfini Double Portrait. Both of these artist's talent won them recognition not only during their lifetime but after as well. Both Velasquez and Van Eyck have a justly earned title as the most talented artists of their respective times. A detailed examination of the details and intricacies of these artist's respective masterpieces, their similarities, and what sets them apart not just from each other but from other paintings from their time period and style, will lead the viewer to a better understanding of the mentalities of these gifted artists and how they transcend their respective genres and contemporaries to create their own artistic identities.
With the number of people losing faith in Catholicism during the Protestant Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church needed to find a way to reaffirm the catholic faith in people, and because many of the people during this time were illiterate, the church needed a universal method of communication. Art, being a media that only need to be seen in order to be understood, was used to portray very direct, passionate and realistic, mostly religious scenes that could be understood by anyone regardless of literacy of social status. In order to accomplish this, Gentileschi does not paint idealized figures, like that of the earlier renaissance paintings, instead the subjects are simple, more full figured and dressed in simple garments which appealed to even the most common people. Painted with chiaroscuro adds grandeur to the piece and this coupled with foreshortening creates a sense of movement and energy which rounded out the illusion that makes the viewer feel as if they are in the very same room witness to the act.
By most accounts, the year 1500 was in the midst of the height of the Italian Renaissance. In that year, Flemmish artist Jean Hey, known as the “Master of Moulins,” painted “The Annunciation” to adorn a section of an alter piece for his royal French patrons. The painting tells the story of the angel Gabriel’s visit to the Virgin Mary to deliver the news that she will give birth to the son of God. As the story goes, Mary, an unwed woman, was initially terrified about the prospects of pregnancy, but eventually accepts her fate as God’s servant. “The Annunciation” is an oil painting on a modest canvas, three feet tall and half as wide. The setting of the painting is a study, Mary sitting at a desk in the bottom right hand corner reading, and the angel Gabriel behind her holding a golden scepter, perhaps floating and slightly off the canvas’s center to the left. Both figures are making distinct hand gestures, and a single white dove, in a glowing sphere of gold, floats directly above Mary’s head. The rest of the study is artistic but uncluttered: a tiled floor, a bed with red sheets, and Italian-style architecture. “The Annunciation” was painted at a momentous time, at what is now considered the end of the Early Renaissance (the majority of the 15th Century) and the beginning of the High Renaissance (roughly, 1495 – 1520). Because of its appropriate placement in the Renaissance’s timeline and its distinctly High Renaissance characteristics, Jean Hey’s “Annunciation” represents the culmination of the transition from the trial-and-error process of the Early Renaissance, to the technical perfection that embodied the High Renaissance. Specifically, “Annunciation” demonstrates technical advancements in the portrayal of the huma...
This essay will closely study and describe Rosso Fiorentino’s The Descent from the Cross. The painting depicts the process of Jesus Christ being taken off of the cross.
As I walked into the first gallery, I saw a wood sculpture that stood in the center of the room. This carving depicted “the crucified Christ, flanked by the Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist with Angels holding instruments of the Passion”. It was painted oak and very appealing to the eye. It stood approximately 15 feet in the air. The origin of this sculpture is unknown, but it was found in a Belgium church. This kind of sculpture usually stood at the entrance or at the center of the alter in the church facing the congregation. This image of the suffering Christ relates to the Christian ideas of suffering and Christ’s salvation of all mankind.
The Allegory of Men painted by Frans Francken in 1635 perfectly depicts the impact of religion during that time period. Francken was a devote Catholic during the 1600s when the church had a lot of influence on the community and government(“Frans Francken the”) . The painter’s intention was to capture the people’s awareness of the church’s power on one’s afterlife. The painting instills good catholic values by reminding people how important it is to make proper decisions to be granted entrance into heaven. Since the church has so much power, they ultimately decide what were “good” and “evil” choices. Divided into three parts the painting shows heaven, Earth, and hell. However, the underlying message in the painting is how humans end up
Beethoven slowly began showing his emotions, and feelings, but very subtly. His work began to have a very sublime feeling to it, very deep and not knowing what to expect. It was after those first two that Beethoven had a big life crisis. (Sayre 407) He then began seeing life as a shorter journey than previously sought, and stopped caring about what consequences would arise from what he wanted to do. Which was to show strong emotion in his music. It was his escape from his impending doom, which was becoming deaf. He released music very quickly over the next decade. This shows how Beethoven’s own life experiences changed the direction of his
The Ghent Altarpiece painted in completeness by Jan and Hubert van Eyck in 1432. This altarpiece is filled with symbolism. One of the most important pieces of the altar is the Deity Enthroned, which represents the Lord in Christianity. The painting covered with symbols and words. The artists portrays many signs with different meanings from the deity’s clothes to the background.
1. Viladesau, Richard. "Counter-Reformation Theology And Art: The Example Of Rubens's Paintings Of The Passion*." Toronto Journal Of Theology 28.1 (2012): 29-42. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.
The painting is of a young St. John the Baptist preaching to his congregation. St. John is an important figure in Catholicism not only for his preaching and baptisms in the River Jordan, but for his role as the last prophet and the forerunner of Jesus Christ. His preaching foretells the coming of Christ as the Messiah, and thereupon Christ’s baptism, the voice from Heaven told St. John that Jesus was God’s son. This piece by Calabrese captures John at the height of his oration. Fixed atop a decrepit tree trunk yet grappling for stability, John is shown here in his ascetic attire composed of camel hair, holding his staff and scroll bearing the words “Ecce Agnus Dei,” which translates into Beho...
... the way that the artwork is resembled in the religious background of the gospel but reconstructed in to a celebrating impression. Throughout the fresco painting it depicts the myth of the Christ’s three fold temptations relating back to the article that “distinction between fresco and panel painting is sharp, and that painters are seen as competitors amongst themselves discriminating also, between the difference in genuine attempts in being better then the other.” Baxandall, “Conditions of Trade,” 26. in relation, the painting concerns the painter’s conscious response to picture trade, and the non-isolation in pictorial interests.
As the seventeenth century began the Catholic Church was having a hard time bringing back the people who were swept away by the protestant reformation. The conflict between the protestant had a big influence on art. (Baroque Art) The church decided to appeal to the human emotion and feeling. They did so by introducing a style called Baroque. Baroque was first developed in Rome and it was dedicated to furthering the aims of Counter Reformation. Baroque was first used in Italy than later spread to the north. In this paper I will argue that the Italian Baroque pieces were more detailed and captured the personality of the figure, in contrast and comparison to Northern Baroque pieces that aimed to produce a sense of excitement and to move viewers in an emotional sense leaving them in awe. I will prove this by talking about the different artwork and pieces of Italian Baroque art versus Northern Baroque Art.
In the two different depictions of the scene Betrayal of Christ, Duccio and Giotto show their different styles on how they compose their paintings. The first decision into the composure of the painting would be the comparison of the size of surface they chose to paint on. Duccio in comparison to Giotto chooses to work on a wooden panel no wider than a foot, and Giotto went with a plaster surface with a width of ten feet. This detail alone lets the viewer know that Giotto’s artwork is embedded in detail and visual consumption. The size difference is the factor between who see’s it and what they see; the fine details and symbolism of the narrative will be better understood if the viewer can see every detail.
The artists of the Baroque had a remarkably different style than artists of the Renaissance due to their different approach to form, space, and composition. This extreme differentiation in style resulted in a very different treatment of narrative. Perhaps this drastic stylistic difference between the Renaissance and Baroque in their treatment of form, space, and composition and how these characteristics effect the narrative of a painting cannot be seen more than in comparing Perugino’s Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter from the Early Renaissance to Caravaggio’s Conversion of St. Paul from the Baroque.Perugino was one of the greatest masters of the Early Renaissance whose style ischaracterized by the Renaissance ideals of purity, simplicity, and exceptional symmetry of composition. His approach to form in Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St.Peter was very linear. He outlined all the figures with a black line giving them a sense of stability, permanence, and power in their environment, but restricting the figures’ sense of movement. In fact, the figures seem to not move at all, but rather are merely locked at a specific moment in time by their rigid outline. Perugino’s approach to the figures’themselves is extremely humanistic and classical. He shines light on the figures in a clear, even way, keeping with the rational and uncluttered meaning of the work. His figures are all locked in a contrapposto pose engaging in intellectual conversation with their neighbor, giving a strong sense of classical rationality. The figures are repeated over and over such as this to convey a rational response and to show the viewer clarity. Perugino’s approach to space was also very rational and simple. He organizes space along three simple planes: foreground, middle ground, and background. Christ and Saint Peter occupy the center foreground and solemn choruses of saints and citizens occupy the rest of the foreground. The middle distance is filled with miscellaneous figures, which complement the front group, emphasizing its density and order, by their scattered arrangement. Buildings from the Renaissance and triumphal arches from Roman antiquity occupy the background, reinforcing the overall classical message to the