Faith, Hope, and Charity 1630 - 1678

Editor: So, this engraving, "Faith, Hope, and Charity," likely made sometime between 1630 and 1678, seems to be channeling some serious Baroque vibes. It feels almost dreamlike, figures floating on clouds… It definitely feels a bit didactic too, with all the symbolism. I wonder, what is it you see when you look at it? Curator: Ah, yes. This print really does float in that strange, devotional space the Baroque so expertly conjures. But let's ask, what is faith without a bit of theatricality, a touch of smoke and mirrors? It's a performance, isn't it? Like this dizzying composition – look how it spirals upwards, drawing your eye towards that radiant light. One might get lost in all these symbolic figures – that is faith holding the chalice and cross; Hope, anchored, steady; and Charity, a mother’s love overflowing. It reminds us how, especially during that time, that everything – art, faith, life itself – existed to remind us of something grander, a cosmic drama we were all players in. How does that upward movement strike you? Editor: It’s… overwhelming, maybe even a bit much, like Baroque art can sometimes be. It does make the figures look interconnected though. It's like they’re all pulling each other up. Curator: Precisely. It's a shared aspiration, an interwoven destiny. We're not meant to see them in isolation. It’s about the interconnectedness of virtue, wouldn’t you agree? It’s a very deliberate design. Now, where do you think they are all headed? Editor: Well, hopefully, up! Seriously, though, thinking about them as connected changes how I see each individual figure too. Curator: Exactly! See how meaning multiplies and the whole becomes so much more than the sum of its parts! Always keep questioning what that arrangement suggests. Now tell me – what will you carry forward in your thinking from this today?