Faith 1500 - 1600

Curator: Here we have an etching from sometime between 1500 and 1600 titled “Faith,” artist unknown. What catches your eye first about this piece? Editor: Immediately, it’s the stark, linear quality of the engraving. The figure has an unsettling gaze, a sense of being burdened yet resolute. Curator: The composition directs our attention toward the process of printmaking itself. It would have taken immense skill to cut those fine, controlled lines. Editor: Yes, and the depiction of Faith, nude, is so interesting. Her body, while classical in form, is also rendered with a kind of unidealized naturalism. It disrupts typical gendered power dynamics because she's owning the symbol. Curator: Right, and look at the materials. Etching as a reproductive technology meant that the image could be circulated to wider audiences, thus democratizing its meaning beyond elite circles. Consider what it means to represent “Faith” at a moment of widespread religious and social upheaval during the Reformation. Editor: I wonder how intentional it was to depict this figure nude – what does it suggest about vulnerabilities inherent in faith? The water seems both to buoy her up and crash around her. Faith’s attributes, the cross-staff and chalice, emphasize religious certainty but against an ambiguous background. I see it representing hope against all odds. Curator: You have to consider what "faith" means for women during this period. Who decides what she needs and what she will have? Editor: Exactly. How the work resonates with viewers then and now hinges on our interpretation of such codes and contextual cues, of course. The power lies in our shared act of interpretation to bring historical narratives back to life. Curator: It reminds me to think more broadly about the conditions under which the maker might have made such deliberate and economical choices to get across what appears to be such an open-ended message about religion. The labor involved speaks volumes, in a way, about devotion. Editor: Absolutely. Art gives us entry into reflecting more clearly about history.