# The Allegory of Catholic Faith \(detail\) [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [VERMEER, Johannes]() - Date: 1651-1700 - Technique: Oil on canvas ## Commentary Northern allegories of the Catholic faith were limited to a rather specific iconography. The woman here is a personification of Faith; the crushed snake in the foreground represents the triumph over sin. The colours worn by Faith, white and blue, may represent the virtues of purity and truth. Despite the subject matter, Vermeer remains concerned with the depiction of objects, space, and light. The simplification and hardening of the light in this painting are characteristic of the artist's late style. The Globe in the picture is by Hondius, 1618. ## Related artworks - [A Lady and Two Gentlemen \(detail\)]() - [A Lady and Two Gentlemen \(detail\)]() - [A Lady and Two Gentlemen \(detail\)]() - [A Lady and Two Gentlemen]() - [A Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman \(detail\)]() - [A Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman \(detail\)]() - [A Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman \(detail\)]() - [A Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman]() - [A Lady Drinking and a Gentleman \(detail\)]() - [A Lady Drinking and a Gentleman \(detail\)]() - [A Lady Drinking and a Gentleman \(detail\)]() - [A Lady Drinking and a Gentleman \(detail\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()