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| Allegory of the Catholic Faith |
This drawing refers to an elaborate allegory language to describe the victory of the Catholic Church at a time when Mass celebrations were forbidden in the Dutch Republic.
A woman, representing the church itself, puts one foot above the globe, while, in the foreground, the church's footsteps crush the snake of evil.
Vermeer turned to Catholic before his marriage, and his paintings, which include tables filled with trophies, for example, and crosses, can also refer to Mass celebrations in so-called "hidden churches" in private homes.
Catalogue Entry
Painted around 1670-72, this picture presents an allegory of Vermeer adoption religion, and may be made specifically for personal Catholic protectors or for schuilkerk, a hidden Catholic church.
This is unlike any other work by Vermeer, although it shows the similarity of composition with The Art of Painting (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) around 1666-68. The latter work is allegorical in the subject, but only nominally, since it is intended primarily as a virtuoso display of the artist's abilities.
In the MMA canvas, Vermeer shifts the style of the deceased into a more classical and schematic direction.
The choice and interpretation of the imagery included here will be discussed by the artist and his patron.
For many allegorical motifs, Vermeer had to turn to the symbolic book Cesare Ripa, Iconologia (Romans, 1603), translated in Dutch edition by Dirck Pietersz Pers (Amsterdam, 1644).
The female figure represents the Catholic Faith, wearing white, the symbol of purity, and the blue, the "hue of heaven". A hand raised to the heart shows a living source of faith.
He put his foot in the world, published in 1618 by Jodocus Hondius, to describe Ripa's description of Faith with "the world beneath his feet". In the foreground, Vermeer shows the "cornerstone" of the Church (Christ) that destroys a serpent (Satan). The nearby apple, which had been bitten, meant original sin.
The table is transformed into an altar with the addition of a cup, a cross, and a Bible or, more likely because of its proximity to other objects used for Mass, an example. The glass ball, hanging from the ribbon, is a popular decorative curiosity; in this context, it can be seen as a symbol of heaven or God.
The room itself, with its high ceilings, marble floors, and large altars based on Jacob Jordaens (probably identical to one in real Vermeer), is meant to be recognized by contemporary audiences as a private chapel fitted inside a large house. or some other secular building. Though apparently an illusionary device, the rug on the left would also be understood as part of a very large hanging, pulled sideways to reveal a normally desolate space (Liedtke 2007).
[2010; adapted from Liedtke 2007]
Provenance
Herman Stoffelsz van Swoll, Amsterdam (until d. 1698; his estate sale, Amsterdam, April 22, 1699, no. 25, for fl. 400); sale, Amsterdam, July 13, 1718, no. 8, for fl. 500; sale, Amsterdam, April 19, 1735, no. 11, for fl. 53
[David Ietswart, until 1749; sale, Amsterdam, April 22, 1749, no. 152, for fl. 70 to Ravensberg]; private collection, Austria (in 1824)
Dmitri Shchukin, Moscow (1899); [Wächtler, Berlin, 1899; sold for 700 marks to Bredius]
Abraham Bredius, The Hague (1899–1928, on loan to Mauritshuis, The Haugue, 1899–1923, and to Museum Boymans, Rotterdam, 1923–28; sold to Kleinberger); [Kleinberger, Paris, 1928; sold to Friedsam]; Michael Friedsam, New York (1928–d. 1931)
Artist:
Johannes Vermeer (Dutch, Delft 1632–1675 Delft)
Date:
ca. 1670-72
Medium:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
45 x 35 in. (114.3 x 88.9 cm)
Classification:
Paintings
Credit Line:
The Friedsam Collection, Bequest of Michael Friedsam, 1931
Copyright Image
https://images.metmuseum.org
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