Faith (Fides), from 'The Virtues'
Original title: Faith (Fides), from "The Virtues"
kurzbeschreibung
Pieter Bruegel the Elder made this engraving around 1559–60 as part of his series on the virtues. It presents Faith (Fides) as a gathering of believers in a room that recalls a church. The print survives in the first of two states.
Description
People fill an interior whose columns, arches, and windows suggest a church or convent. At the front, an elevated figure preaches with a book in hand; around them, numerous individuals in traditional dress stand, sit, or kneel. Toward the back rises a podium where another person holds a book, accompanied by a second figure with a book. Along the lower margin, tools such as a hammer and shears appear beside a Latin quotation.
Context
This engraving belongs to a set of seven copperplates that Bruegel designed around 1559–60 and devoted to the virtues. Hieronymus Cock, one of the leading print publishers of the day, issued the series in Antwerp. The design of Faith reflects the religious disputes of the sixteenth century, in which the role of the church and the piety of the individual were contested.
Impact
The richly detailed, symmetrical arrangement draws the eye into the dense crowd of the assembled. Evenly distributed light and graduated grays give the sheet a calm, contemplative mood that invites reflection on its allegorical content.
Technique
The impression was produced by engraving: lines are cut into a copperplate and then transferred to paper with printing ink. The monochrome gray palette arises from the direction of the strokes and the gradations of hatching that model light and shadow.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)