Allegory of the Catholic Faith

Johannes Vermeer

Oil on canvas

Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Allegory of the Catholic Faith is a late work by the Dutch Golden Age master Johannes Vermeer, painted in Delft around 1670–1672. The composition presents a female figure—representing the Catholic Church—dressed in white and blue satin, her hand pressed to her heart and her eyes raised heavenward, with one foot resting atop a terrestrial globe; in the foreground, a cornerstone crushes a serpent symbolizing evil, while a table bears a chalice, crucifix, and missal evoking the celebration of the Mass. Vermeer, who converted to Catholicism before his marriage, drew extensively on Cesare Ripa's emblem book Iconologia for his allegorical symbols, and set the scene within a domestic interior hung with an opulent tapestry—likely a veiled reference to the clandestine Catholic worship conducted in private homes during a period when public Mass was forbidden in the Dutch Republic. The background features a Crucifixion scene derived from a painting by the Flemish artist Jacob Jordaens, and a glass sphere suspended from the ceiling adds a further layer of theological symbolism to this singular and iconographically complex work.