Hope (Spes) from The Virtues
Original title: Hope (Spes) from The Virtues
kurzbeschreibung
Pieter Bruegel the Elder made the engraving Hope (Spes) around 1559–60 as part of his series The Virtues. The personification of Hope appears as a woman with a shovel and a shield, set within a densely populated landscape full of buildings, boats and numerous small figures.
Description
A woman in a white gown, carrying a shovel and a shield, stands in the foreground on a wave-like mound that sweeps across the sheet from right to left. Behind her rises a large building with many windows and a door; to its left lies a fortress, where people cook and inspect weapons. On the right, several ships battle the waves, their crews straining against the water. The black-and-white scene gains its energy from even light that sharpens the contours and from the sheer abundance of human activity.
Context
The print was produced around 1559–60 in the workshop of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, who was known for allegorical and moralizing images. The seven-part series The Virtues presents each Christian virtue as a person. Bruegel supplied the designs, and the engraving was executed by Hendrick Goltzius, one of the leading copperplate engravers of the time. The sheets were intended for the art market and carried Bruegel’s inventions across Europe.
Impact
A dense wealth of detail and high-contrast linework give the sheet great liveliness. The calmly standing allegory of Hope amid a restless world creates tension between stillness and turbulence. Viewers can discover the many small scenes and decipher their symbolic meaning.
Technique
In this copperplate engraving, the lines were incised into a copper plate and then printed on paper. The process allows fine, precise strokes and high detail. The image remains monochrome in black and white; hatching creates tonal values and a sense of volume.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)