The Real Presence of Christ and the Penitent Mary Magdalen in the Allegory of Faith by Johannes...

1 Johannes Vermeer, Allegory of Faith, c. 1671±4. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NewYork. Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Friedsam Collection, Bequest of MichaelFriedsam, 1931.

The Real Presence of Christ and the PenitentMary Magdalen in the Allegory of Faith byJohannes Vermeer

Valerie Lind Hedquist

Vermeer's late and perhaps last painting, the Allegory of Faith, c. 1671±4 (TheMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York), has perplexed scholars who havecompared the work unfavorably to the rest of the Dutch genre master's oeuvre(plate 1).1 This painting of a female figure striking a rhetorical pose surrounded byuncommon objects in an otherwise typical Dutch interior deviates from theprosaic naturalism of Vermeer's characteristic style. As an anomaly in Vermeer'swork, the Allegory of Faith has been dismissed by most scholars as an inelegantreligious allegory completed at the end of the painter's life when his artisticsensibilities had waned. Although the jarring juxtaposition of artifice andnaturalism in the Allegory of Faith is disconcerting, this peculiar work doesprovide an opportunity to understand other aspects of Vermeer's pictorial andiconographic interests. In order to comprehend more fully the complex meaningof Vermeer's late allegory, the work should be examined within the context of theDutch Roman Catholic community to which the Delft artist belonged.

A careful consideration of this religious setting will show that Vermeer'sAllegory of Faith is a sophisticated meditative art work of the CounterReformation affirming the real presence of Christ's body and blood in the breadand wine of the Roman Catholic sacrifice of the mass. From the beginnings of theReformation in the sixteenth century to the time of Vermeer's painting in the1670s, the meaning and significance of this key sacrament was the central issue ofdoctrinal disagreement between the Roman Catholics and Calvinists in thenorthern Netherlands.2 In his allegorical apology of this Roman Catholic doctrine,Vermeer depicted a genre interior that served as a seventeenth-century domesticchurch where clandestine celebrations of the mass were held. Careful considerationof the individual objects and their placement and relationships in Vermeer'sinterior scene in conjunction with an understanding of specifically contemporaryRoman Catholic attitudes regarding faith will show that the eucharistic mystery isthe specific subject matter of Vermeer's painting. Insights resulting from thisapproach will show that the richly attired woman, who has been identified aspersonifying faith, also represents the penitent saint Mary Magdalen.

In the Allegory of Faith an unusual scene is depicted in a domestic interior thatis otherwise typical for Vermeer. A tapestry curtain is pulled back to reveal awoman dressed elegantly in white, blue and gold, gazing heavenward toward ahanging glass ball above her head. With her right hand on her breast, Vermeer's

Art History ISSN 0141-6790 Vol. 23 No. 3 September 2000 pp. 333±364

333ß Association of Art Historians 2000. Published by Blackwell Publishers,108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.

female figure places her right foot ona terrestrial globe and leans with herleft arm on a table. A book, chalice,crucifix, crown of thorns and aslender strip of green material arearranged on what has been inaccu-rately identified as a simple table,but what may more accurately repre-sent an altar which is covered andelevated on a carpeted step.3 A sec-tion of gold-embossed leather isplaced directly behind the altar andin the background hangs a largepainting of Christ's Crucifixion.The composition of this painting-within-the-picture is based on awork by Jacob Jordaens. In the fore-ground of Vermeer's interior, a chairwith a blue cushion, a snake crushedby a fallen cornerstone and a par-tially eaten apple complete thecurious composition.The uncommon subject matter of

this painting has resulted in unsatis-factory and incomplete interpreta-tions of the work. As early as 1914,

based on entries for faith and specifically Catholic faith in the 1644 Dutchpublication of Cesare Ripa's Iconologia (plate 2), A.J. Barnouw demonstrated thatthe female figure personifies faith.4 According to the Iconologia, the chalice andbook are attributes of faith and the fallen cornerstone symbolizes Christ whodefeats Original Sin represented by the crushed snake and the apple. Ripa'sdefinition of faith also mentions a crown of thorns hanging on the wall and ascene of Abraham's Sacrifice in the background.5 Barnouw correctly identified theIconologia as a source for Vermeer's work; however, the discrepancies betweenRipa's description and the painting were not addressed.

In an article published in 1975 Eddy de Jongh resolved some of theinconsistencies between Ripa's definition and Vermeer's painting by identifyingthe meaning of several additions to the standard Ripa iconography.6 According toDe Jongh, the strange glass ball hanging above the female figure's head is relatedto an image in a Jesuit emblem book (plate 3).7 In this emblem a winged-youth,representing the soul, looks at the heavenly glass sphere that reflects a crucifix andthe sun. The accompanying message relates how our limited minds cancomprehend God, just as the globe can reflect the universe.8 De Jongh alsofocused on the strands of pearls around the neck and in the hair of the figure offaith. According to De Jongh, these pearls serve as a symbol of virtue and referdirectly to Catholic faith, as expressed in a poem by Joost van den Vondel (1587±1679).9 De Jongh acknowledged that Vermeer substituted a painting of the

2 `Fede Catholica' from Cesare Ripa,Iconologia, Amsterdam, 1644. Photo:Universiteitsbibliotheek van Amsterdam.

VERMEER'S ALLEGORY OF FAITH

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Crucifixion on the back wall forRipa's prescribed Old Testamentprototype, Abraham's Sacrifice, buthe did not explain the significanceof the substitution. Although heoffered convincing interpretationsof the hanging glass ball and thepearls, derived from sources besidesRipa's Iconologia, De Jongh's workremained incomplete. He did notdiscuss the specific ways in whichVermeer had arranged objects inthe painting, nor the additional dis-crepancies between Ripa's descrip-tion and Vermeer's painting offaith.

Several of the compositionalidiosyncrasies of Vermeer's Alle-gory of Faith were acknowledgedby Arthur K. Wheelock and BenBroos in their jointly written cata-logue entry published during theVermeer exhibition of 1995.10 Bothauthors recognized the `Eucharisticcharacter' of the painting as a resultof the significant juxtaposition ofthe chalice, book and crucifix onthe table.11 Importantly, Wheelockand Broos noted the dramatic wayVermeer emphasized the goldchalice and black ebony crucifixby placing these objects against thecontrasting backgrounds of theblack frame of the Crucifixion painting and the gold-embossed leather screen.12

The authors interpreted the compositional significance of this superimpositionof objects in Vermeer's painting as relating to the eucharist; however, they didnot recognize the table as an altar, where Roman Catholics believe the wine inthe chalice becomes the blood of the crucified Christ during the celebration ofthe mass.

The `incontestably Catholic' character of the Allegory of Faith is alsoacknowledged in two recent publications examining Vermeer's allegoricalpaintings.13 Both Daniel Arasse (1994) and Christiane Hertel (1996) agree withprevious scholars that Vermeer's late religious work delivers a clear ideologicalmessage of Catholic faith based on the visual and textual information in Ripa'sIconologia.14 Arasse acknowledges Vermeer's conversion to Roman Catholicismas central to the artist's development of a Catholic aesthetic in which the mysticalunion of the visible and the invisible occurs in his painting.15 He concludes his

3 `Capit quod non capit' from Willem Hesius,Emblemata, Antwerp, 1636. Photo:Universiteitsbibliotheek van Amsterdam.


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study of Vermeer by considering carefully the hanging glass globe in the Allegoryof Faith. Based on religious or secular precedents, one would expect to see either across formed by the framework of a window or a portrait of the artist reflected inthe glass globe.16 Instead, Vermeer painted the partially shuttered windows of hisown studio to underscore his artistic participation and presence in controlling theillumination of the allegorical scene. Vermeer's careful adjustment creates a sharp,intense light on the tapestry in the foreground and a subtle, more sombre lightingaround the personification of faith. Arasse maintains that Vermeer likened hiswork as an artist to the creative acts of the Christian God in making the invisibleor absent present in the visible world.17 Vermeer's desire to make the absentpresent in paint corresponds to my critical interpretation of this painting as apresentation of the doctrine of the invisible real presence of God in the tangibleeucharistic gifts of the wine and bread.

By comparing Vermeer's Allegory of Faith to Flemish images of this theme byPeter Paul Rubens and Otto van Veen, Hertel highlighted the specific compositionaldistinctions that account for the unsettling failure of the Dutch painter's religiousallegory. According to Hertel, Vermeer's Allegory of Faith offends modern viewersbecause it is neither a fictive image of worship, nor a credible domestic interior.18

Yet, this conflation of domesticity and worship is precisely what Vermeer intended,in order to make Roman Catholic teachings more immediate.

Vermeer's decision to deviate symbolically and compositionally from thedescriptions and illustrations found in Ripa's Iconologia and from the conventionsof allegorical representation can be understood by recognizing the central role ofcontemporary Roman Catholicism to Vermeer's painting. Vermeer substituted ascene of the Crucifixion for the prescribed image of Abraham's Sacrifice and theartist added a crucifix and a long, fringed piece of green satin cloth (which may be apriest's stole), to the chalice, book and crown of thorns mentioned by Ripa in hisentries on faith, in order to underscore the specifically Roman Catholic nature of hisfaith. Vermeer's engagement with contemporary Roman Catholic attitudes andpractices is the precise motive for his odd, overtly religious scene in a domesticinterior. As will become evident, Vermeer's Allegory of Faith depends on a thoroughknowledge of the central doctrine of Roman Catholic faith, the Roman Catholicmass as a celebration and commemoration of Christ's Passion. Specifically,Vermeer's idiosyncratic image refers to the doctrine of transubstantiation, the realpresence of Christ's crucified body and blood in the bread and wine of the eucharist,as celebrated at an altar in a domestic church setting.

For Roman Catholics, the dogma of the real presence has a biblical foundationin the literal interpretation of Christ's Last Supper in the New Testament.19 Theactual words spoken by Christ while blessing the bread and wine at this Passovermeal are literally adopted by the Roman Catholic church as the words ofconsecration, which accomplish transubstantiation. The earliest account of theinstitution (C.E. 54) comes from St Paul in I Corinthians 11:23±25,

For I myself have received from the Lord (what I also delivered to you),that the Lord Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, took bread,and giving thanks broke, and said, `This is my body which shall be givenup for you; do this in remembrance of me.' In like manner also the cup,



after he had supped, saying, `This cup is the new covenant in my blood; dothis as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.'20

According to Roman Catholic doctrine, Christ miraculously transforms the breadand wine of the altar into his body and blood through the words of consecrationspoken by the Roman Catholic priest and the power of the Holy Ghost.21 Theeucharistic meal of Christ's sacrificial body and blood, initiated during the LastSupper and consummated at the Crucifixion, unfolds at the Roman Catholic altarduring every mass. In fact, the entire Roman Catholic liturgy is viewed as a re-enactment of Christ's Passion, from the moment the priest enters the sanctuaryuntil the final prayers are offered at the close of the service.

Dutch illustrated mass books from the seventeenth century clearly drawparallels between the actions of the priest during the mass and the events ofChrist's Passion.22 In mass books, such as those published in Amsterdam, Misse,haer korte uytlegginge (1651), and in Haarlem, Mysterie van den Godts-Dienst derH. Misse, Christi Bloedige Passie Ver-Beeldt in het Onbloedigh Sacrificie der H.Misse (1676), the mass is explained by text and illustrations.23 In both books,images of an altar surrounded by the instruments and objects from Christ'sPassion introduce the devotional text. In the Amsterdam version, curtains arepulled back to show a priest kneeling before an altar on which are placed achalice, corporal, missal, cushion, two candlesticks and a crucifixion altarpiece(plate 4).24 To the priest's side lie the liturgical garments, an alb, chasuble, stoleand maniple, which he will wear during the celebration of the mass.25 In additionto the liturgical items, symbols of Christ's Passion are arranged on either side ofthe altar. Above the altar, putti display additional relics from Christ's Passion,including the crown of thorns, the scourging flail and Veronica's brilliantlyilluminated sudarium. Similar objects appear in the introductory illustration ofthe Haarlem mass book which omits the kneeling priest, but refers to hissignificant role in the ritual of the mass by the inclusion of his chasuble and foldedmaniple and stole on the altar (plate 5). The accompanying text in the Haarlemversion compares the encircling objects of Christ's Passion to the garments andobjects of the contemporary mass.26

After the introductory illustrations, the texts of both books provide anexplanation of the movements and gestures of the priest at the altar as they relateto the actions of Christ during his Passion. On facing pages, illustrations depictingepisodes from Christ's Passion narrative and the corresponding actions of thepriest in the church sanctuary are paired with prayers and meditations on thehistorical events of Christ's final days and their parallels to the daily eucharisticmass. In the Haarlem edition, the interpretation of the mass as a re-enactment ofChrist's Passion is explicitly established, `The Mass shows you Christ's death thathe suffered for our great sins. O soul, learn here at God's altar everything thatGod's son suffered on Calvary.'27

In both pictorial mass books, the first illustrations depict the priest with hisattendants entering the sanctuary.28 In the Amsterdam version a torch-bearing angellights the candle at the altar and two altar boys carry a missal and cruets of wine andwater (plate 6). Following this group, the priest carries a covered chalice to the altar.In both Dutch mass books, the procession of the priest into the sanctuary



corresponds to Christ and his disciples entering the Garden of Gethsemane. Thefirst episode of Christ's Passion parallels the commencement of the mass.

The priest is absent in Vermeer's painting; however, his presence is suggestedby the narrow strip of fringed green material that drapes loosely below the chalice,crucifix and book. In this liturgical context, Vermeer's green cloth resembles thepriest's stoles found on or near the altars in the introductory illustrations of theAmsterdam and Haarlem mass books.29 Along with the liturgical objects of thechalice and crucifix on Vermeer's altar, the green stole refers to the priest'scelebration of the mass as the objects in the introductory illustration of theHaarlem mass book refer to the mass without including the priest. In his book onchurch ceremony, Den Bloem-hof der Kerckelicker Cerimonien, from 1622, theJesuit priest Jan David wrote that the stole, a silk garment that the priest wearsaround his neck and crossed over his chest, `represents the obedience of Christ todeath on the cross'.30 In his discussion of liturgical colours, Father David notedthat green, the colour of the stole in Vermeer's painting, is used on Sundays andweekdays, with the exception of Advent, Lent and periods of fasting and vigils.31

4 (left) `Mysteria Passionis et Missae' from Misse, haer korte uytlegginge, Amsterdam, 1651.Photo: Universiteitsbibliotheek van Amsterdam.5 (right) `Mysterie van den Godts-Dienst der H. Misse' from Mysterie van den Godts-Dienstder H. Misse, Haarlem, 1676. Photo: Universiteitsbibliotheek van Amsterdam.



Father David discusses the colourgreen: `[it] signifies to us the fresh-ness and youth of virtue/as ourSaviour compared Himself to a greentree/teaching us that we need toserve him always in holiness of life/all through the year, ever green andvirtuous.'32 In Vermeer's Allegory ofFaith the stole evokes the absentpriest and the remaining liturgicalobjects on the altar refer directly tothe eucharist which he celebrates,but only as the human agent of adivine miracle.

The altar depicted by Vermeerconforms in many respects to thegeneral rubrics of the RomanCatholic church, as expounded incontemporary accounts regardingthe altar and its liturgical articles. InDen Bloem-hof Father David de-scribed the Catholic church altar asdecorated `in beautiful tapestries,statues, paintings, lights, and aboveall the various relics and bones of theSaints'.33 Liturgical directives dic-tated that the altar should be placedon an elevated platform and shouldbe carpeted as the altar is inVermeer's painting, in the illustrations of the Amsterdam and Haarlem massbooks, and in prints depicting Roman Catholic sanctuaries.34 Although carpetswere not normally found on floors in Dutch interiors, the sacred setting of thealtar required a covered floor, and carpets and tapestries are mentioned in churchinventories as appropriate for the decoration of the high altar.35 For example,carpets are included among the Catholic furnishings and ornaments in the 1705inventory of the Valkenberg church that had been used by Protestants and RomanCatholics simultaneously from 1648 to 1663.36

In addition to the requirements of an elevated location and a carpeted floor,curtains hang near the altars in mass-book illustrations and other print sources,suggesting that they may have also been adopted in covert Roman Catholicchurches in the United Provinces, as evident in an illustration of a Jesuit sanctuaryfrom 1647 (plate 7).37 According to Father David, hanging curtains around thealtar in Catholic sanctuaries demonstrated that, `the altar is a heaven and God'sthrone/and the curtains are the clouds which open/as one consecrates the holybody of our Lord/and as though coming forth from Heaven, shows it to thepeople.'38 In Vermeer's painting the tapestry functions as an altar curtain which isdrawn back in the left foreground to reveal the religious setting, inviting the

6 `Sacerdos Accedit ad Altare' from Misse, haerkorte uytlegginge, Amsterdam, 1651. Photo:Universiteitsbibliotheek van Amsterdam.



viewer to participate in the celebration of the mass as a member of the con-gregation.39 As Arasse has noted, in contrast to the tapestry curtain in Vermeer'sother allegorical painting, The Art of Painting, the curtain in the Allegory of Faithfaces the viewer in recognition of our presence.40 The viewer is shown a clearlydepicted castle tower, a rider and a walking man representing the outside, secularworld that is separate from the darkened spiritual interior. Less plainly rendered isthe skull-like form in the lower part of the tapestry curtain and fragments of fruitand flower motifs that also allude, in general, to fleeting temporal pleasures.

Just beyond the altar curtain in the darkened interior space, an empty chairwith a blue cushion provides a seat for the viewing participant. The diagonalplacement of the chair, aligned with the floor tiles, focuses on the figure of faith atthe altar. From this chair, the Roman Catholic believer concentrates on themystery at the altar that faith recognizes. The cushion on the chair in Vermeer'spainting may serve as a kneeling cushion intended for parishioners during theeucharistic celebration of the mass, as is evident in illustrations from the massbooks (plate 8).41

Within the room, upon the carpeted step, the officially prescribed altarappears with a blue/green silk or velvet frontal.42 The Jesuit priest Father David

7 Title page of De ChristelyckeLeeringhe, Antwerp, 1647. Photo:Museum Catharijneconvent,Utrecht.



continued his discussion on the orna-mentation of the altar by explainingthat a crucifix must always be on thealtar during mass, as it is inVermeer's painting. The crucifix isa sign `that there [on the altar] living,the same sacrifice is offered/whichonce on the cross had been offered/and therefore during the service ofthe mass/we must have the Passionof Christ before our eyes.'43 In addi-tion to the crucifix on the altar,Vermeer added a large open bookwith gold clasps that resembles con-temporary missals, providing theofficiating priest with the completerite of the mass.44

The depiction of the altar area inVermeer's painting corresponds tothe actual appearance of RomanCatholic sanctuaries reproduced inprints and described in devotionalwritings. His choice of liturgicalobjects placed on the altar revealsthat Vermeer intended to mirrorcontemporary Roman Catholicchurch practices. The pictorial massbooks and the writings of Father JanDavid specifically stated thatnothing should be placed on thealtar that does not appertain to thesacrifice of the mass.

In his Allegory of Faith, Vermeer referred not only to the contemporary massthat celebrates the re-enactment of the Passion on the altar, but also to Christ'sactual, historical Crucifixion. Vermeer included a direct reference to Christ'sPassion by placing a true crown of thorns on the opened missal. In Dutch massbooks, the crowning of Christ with thorns is presented as the episode from thePassion that relates to the priest covering the chalice prior to the consecration ofthe wine. Vermeer acknowledged this correspondence by including the three-knobbed, ornate chalice in which, for Roman Catholics, the wine is miraculouslytransformed into Christ's blood during consecration on the altar during mass.This costly eucharistic vessel features elaborate ornamentation, suggesting thatVermeer had first-hand knowledge of liturgical objects created by Dutchsilversmiths, such as the Vianen or the Visscher families, for Roman Catholicchurches in the United Provinces. Although these two silversmith families wereCatholic, craftsmen from various denominations took advantage of the demandfor silver liturgical objects for the Roman Catholic altar.45 The need for silver

8 `Sacerdos Signat Oblata' from Misse, haerkorte uytlegginge, Amsterdam, 1651. Photo:Universiteitsbibliotheek van Amsterdam.



ecclesiastical vessels was so great, in fact, that in the four years before 1650,Archbishop Philip Rovenius consecrated 120 new chalices for the numeroushidden churches in the northern Netherlands.46

In addition to the chalice, crown of thorns and crucifix on the altar, whichrefer to the historical and perpetual sacrifice of Christ on the cross, Vermeer alsoincluded a large depiction of the Crucifixion in the background of his Allegory ofFaith. For the Roman Catholic community, the representation of the crucifiedChrist affirms the significance of the mass as a re-enactment of the Passion.Depictions of the Crucifixion were commonly found at the altars or in thesanctuaries of Roman Catholic churches as substantiated by illustrations in Dutchmass books and by prints and paintings of contemporary Roman Catholic churchinteriors. Dutch Calvinists complained to local government officials about thistype of papist imagery that could be seen from the streets. Protests at mid-centuryagainst a certain house church in Amsterdam called `de minste bruyloft' notedthat from outside one could see `certain idolatrous images concerning the mockingand blasphemy of the Passion and death of Jesus Christ'.47 The Calvinist churchadministration considered these images `entirely unsympathetic and godless' andreported them to the city officials.48

As a major deviation from Ripa's allegorical representation of faith, Vermeer'sdecision to substitute the New Testament sacrifice of Christ on the cross for theOld Testament sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham is significant.49 The large size andcentral position of the scene of the Crucifixion further supports its integral role inthe meaning of the Allegory of Faith.50 In order to emphasize the essentialcorrelation between the real presence of Christ during the mass as celebrated atthe altar in this domestic setting and Christ's historical sacrifice on the cross,Vermeer showed Christ's body on the cross in the painting on the back wall andon the crucifix on the altar.51 The sacrifice of Christ by God the Father is the NewTestament covenant that supersedes the Old Testament covenant of Abraham'ssacrifice of Isaac.52 The relationship of Christ's death on the cross, the chalice andthe eucharist as a new testament is proclaimed in the canon of the mass during theconsecration of the wine in the chalice (which Vermeer has placed between thetwo images of Christ's sacrificed body): `Take, and drink ye all of it. For this is thechalice of My blood, of the new and eternal testament: the mystery of faith: whichshall be shed for you, and for many, unto the remission of sins.'53

In Vermeer's painting the chalice holds the wine which will become the bloodof Christ as the new and eternal testament which was earned at the Crucifixionand is renewed at the altar during every mass. Vermeer underscored thispenetrating symbolic and temporal relationship by placing the gold chalicebetween the two images of the crucified Christ, in the painted representation ofthe Crucifixion on the back wall and on the carved crucifix on the altar.

Vermeer's contemporaries understood the significance of the Crucifixionhanging behind the figure of faith as a symbol of the New Testament and the realpresence at the altar. In the 1699 auction, the painting is described as `a sittingWoman with several meanings, representing the New Testament, by Vermeer ofDelft, vigorously and glowingly painted'.54 The work is similarly referred to insales in 1718 and 1735.55 These descriptions suggest that the didactic message ofthe work concerns the New Testament sacrifice of Christ as the central mystery of



faith, which is substantiated by the central presence of Christ's death on the crossin Vermeer's painting. The Allegory of Faith, then, is an image not only of faith,one of the several meanings referred to in the 1699 sale, but more importantly, ascene which spoke to contemporary Dutch Catholics of the connection betweenthe New Testament supreme sacrifice of Christ, as shown in the large painting onthe back wall, and the daily re-enactment of that sacrifice and the real presence ofChrist at the altar in the domestic interior. The personification of faith inVermeer's painting, poised between the terrestrial globe under her feet and theheavenly globe above her head, rests on the altar where heaven and earth meet.56

To Roman Catholics, such as Vermeer, the mystery of faith reveals the miraculoustransformation of the earthly gifts of bread and wine into the heavenly gifts ofChrist's body and blood during the transubstantiation at the altar.

Vermeer's pictorial composition further articulates this interpretation of thepainting. The reflecting glass ball hangs from a blue ribbon leading directly tothe figure of St John in the Crucifixion scene on the back wall of Vermeer'sinterior. St John's diagonal gesture with his right hand leads to Christ's deadbody on the cross. The position of the body within the painting resembles theposition of Christ's body on the crucifix placed on the altar. In both cases,Christ's body weighs heavily on His arms, creating a v-shape from the nailedhands at either end of the horizontal bar of the cross to Christ's head. In boththe painting-within-the-picture and on the crucifix, Christ's knees are bent andtwisted to the viewer's right. The figural positions of the painted and sculptedChrist tie the historical Crucifixion with the sacrifice at the altar. Furthermore,Christ's body within the painting leads directly to the figure of faith, who turnstoward the altar while looking heavenward. Again, Vermeer's compositionconnects the depicted scene in the painting on the back wall to the events in thesacred domestic interior.

Vermeer's depiction of the Crucifixion in the background also amplifies andclarifies the role of the figure of faith in the foreground. Vermeer's painting isderived from variations of the Crucifixion painted by the Flemish artist, JacobJordaens (Private collection, Antwerp, plate 9).57 Vermeer altered Jordaens'soriginal composition in two significant ways. Firstly, Vermeer eliminated a figureon a ladder in the background of Jordaens's work, and, secondly, he removed orobscured the figure of Mary Magdalen mourning at the bottom of the crossbetween Christ and St John in Jordaens's composition.58 Vermeer's figure of faithassumes the position of the seated Mary Magdalen in the background paintingand comes to life as the penitent saint within Vermeer's domestic church interior.

In addition to the compositional juxtaposition of the placement of MaryMagdalen within the original Jordaens painting and the figure of faith in Vermeer'spainting, a number of similarities between seventeenth-century depictions of thispopular Counter Reformation saint and Vermeer's female figure support her iden-tification as the penitent, Mary Magdalen, a paragon of true faith.59 In particular,the specific choices Vermeer made in depicting the dress, pose and adornments ofthe female saint depend on works produced by artists in Italy, France, Flanders andthe Netherlands. Upon first viewing Vermeer's central figure of faith, the extrav-agance and luxury of the woman's costume and the demonstrative pose she strikesare immediately noteworthy. Her blue-and-white satin dress is trimmed in gold



9 Jacob Jordaens, Christ on the Cross, c. early 1620s. Private collection, Antwerp.Photo: Hugo Maertens, Brugge.


with jewels along the low, revealing neckline.60 This elegant attire can be traced tothe sumptuous clothing worn by Mary Magdalen in many Italian paintings of theseventeenth century. Caravaggio (1571±1610) established the pictorial prototype forthe image of the penitent Magdalen at the time of her conversion in his earlypaintings: the Conversion of the Magdalen, c. 1598 (Detroit Institute of Arts,Detroit) and Repentant Magdalen, 1594±5 (Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome). Inthese two paintings Caravaggio painted the reformed prostitute in fashionable,luxurious clothing as an important allusion to her previous secular pursuits prior toher conversion to Christ. Jewels, including pearls, are strewn to the side of themeditating Magdalen in the Doria Pamphilj work as symbols of the saint's rejectionof material wealth and pleasure (plate 10).61 Caravaggio's paintings influenced hisimmediate followers, such as Orazio Gentileschi (1563±1639) and ArtemisiaGentileschi (1593±1653), as well as Bolognese painters, such as Domenichino(1581±1641) and Guido Reni (1575±1642).

Artemisia's depiction of Mary Magdalen, the Penitent Magdalen, c. 1617±20(Pitti Palace, Florence), shows a woman dressed in a yellow satin dress with a lowneckline and full, overlayered sleeves (plate 11).62 Her hair is pulled back and up,and she wears pearl earrings. With her right hand on her breast and her eyeslooking upward, Artemisia's saint closely resembles Vermeer's figure in costumeand pose. Domenichino's painting of the saint, St Mary Magdalen, c. 1625(National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, on loan from Sir Denis Mahon), also looksheavenward during the moment of her conversion (plate 12).63 As in Vermeer'spainting, Domenichino's saint wears a blue satin dress with large jewels sewnalong the low neckline. Domenichino's contemporary, Guido Reni, completed anumber of paintings of the Magdalen, including several works that depict analternative scene from the penitent saint's life. According to well-establishedlegendary accounts, Mary Magdalen spent the final thirty years of her lifemeditating in a cave in southern France.64 In Reni's paintings of this theme, suchas The Magdalen, 1634 (Capella di S. Carlo, Volterra Cathedral, Volterra), theextravagant costume adopted for Mary Magdalen's conversion is replaced by asimple, rough cloth that covers the Magdalen's nakedness during her lengthyperiod of fasting and praying (plate 13). Although the setting is altered, the pose ofReni's contemplative saint closely resembles the pose of Vermeer's female figure, asimilarity noted by both Wheelock and Broos in 1995.65

Italian artists established the seventeenth-century visual model for the penitentMary Magdalen, which artists from the rest of Europe emulated. In France, bothSimon Vouet (1590±1649) and Charles Le Brun (1619±90) incorporated stylisticand iconographic features based on Italian works in their paintings of MaryMagdalen. Here, too, similarities exist between the French versions of the saintand Vermeer's female figure. In Vouet's half-length painting, The Magdalen, c.1633±4 (MuseÂ e de Picardie, Amiens), the hair is pulled up to reveal the white fleshof her breast and shoulders, referring to the carnality that the saint now disavows(plate 14).66 Her pearl earring glows in the centre of the painting alluding to theexpensive luxuries of the saint's prior secular life. In Le Brun's full-lengthdepiction, The Repentant Magdalen, c. 1656±7 (Louvre, Paris), pearls are woveninto the hair of the saint and tumble out of an overturned box at her feet (plate15).67 In this painting, as well, pearls represent worldly concerns and earthly



10 (left) Caravaggio, Repentant Magdalen, c. 1594±5. Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome. Photo:Fototeca Nazionale, Rome.11 (right) Artemisia Gentileschi, Penitent Magdalen, c. 1617±20. Palazzo Pitti, Florence. Photo:Ministero per i Beni e le AttivitaÁ Culturali, Florence.

12 (left) Domenichino, St Mary Magdalen, c. 1625. National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, onloan from Sir Denis Mahon. Photo: Sir Denis Mahon.13 (right) Guido Reni, The Magdalen, 1634. Capella di S. Carlo, Volterra Cathedral. Photo:Museo Diocesano di Arte Sacra, Volterra.


14 (above) Simon Vouet, TheMagdalen, c. 1633±4. MuseÂ e de Picardie,Amiens. Photo: Agence Bulloz.

15 (right) Charles Le Brun, TheRepentant Magdalen, c. 1656±7. Louvre,Paris. Photo: ReÂ union des museÂ esnationaux.


vanities that the saint has rejected in favour of a greater love found upward inheaven where she directs her gaze.68

The prominent role of pearls, as an attribute of vanity and worldly interests, inthe French and Italian paintings of the Magdalen suggests that the pearls worn byVermeer's sumptuously attired figure also function as a sign of luxury andmaterialism. Although he identified the pearls in Vermeer's painting as a symbolof faith, De Jongh also acknowledged the wide range of both positive and negativeassociations related to the pearl.69 In particular, De Jongh noted the `satanic' pearlas a symbol of whoredom, vanity and Dame World.70 When the contemporaryDutch poet and convert to Roman Catholicism Maria Tesselschade Roemers(1594±1649) wrote a poem about Mary Magdalen's conversion at Christ's feet, thefigure of the weeping saint rejects a pearl necklace.71 In Jan van Scorel's paintingof the penitent saint (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam), pearls ornament the sleeves andbodice of her dress. In Vermeer's painting, the pearls at the neck and in the hair ofthe sitting female figure are a fitting luxurious complement to the elegant costume.Together, the pearls and the bejewelled dress refer to Mary Magdalen's life ofvanity before turning to Christ.

Highlighting Mary Magdalen's life prior to her conversion did not interestthe Flemish artists Peter Paul Rubens (1577±1640) and Anthony van Dyck (1599±1641). Instead, these painters preferred to show the saint in hermitic scenes inwhich she has already retired to her cave to spend the last years of her life inmeditation. In these works, the Magdalen is nude and seated in a landscape or ina dark, rocky interior as she was in Reni's painting.72 In one of Rubens'spaintings, St Magdalen Repentant, c. 1630s (formerly Kaiser Friedrich-Museum,Berlin), the figure of Mary Magdalen rests her foot on a skull and snake (plate16). The snake symbolizes Original Sin, as it does in Vermeer's Allegory ofFaith, and the skull refers to death defeated by the Magdalen after accepting theredeeming love of Christ into her heart to replace the corrupting love of materialwealth and physical beauty. Despite resemblances between the paintings byRubens and Vermeer, Flemish depictions of Mary Magdalen share fewer overallsimilarities with Vermeer's representation of the saint than do Italian and Frenchsources. It is likely, therefore, that Caravaggesque Baroque paintings, eitherdirectly or indirectly, influenced Vermeer when he turned to the theme of thepenitent whore.

By the time Vermeer completed the Allegory of Faith, painted copies andreproductive engravings disseminated the themes and compositions of foreignartists, such as Caravaggio and his followers and other pre-eminent Italian andFrench Baroque masters, to artists working in the northern Netherlands.73 Thesesources were especially helpful as pictorial and iconographic solutions whennorthern artists painted religious subject matter.74 Although foreign art was notcommonly available in Vermeer's hometown of Delft, international works of artwere found in cities, especially Amsterdam and The Hague, where art dealers andcollectors treasured the paintings of foreign artists.75 By the time he painted hislate religious picture, the Allegory of Faith, Vermeer's familiarity with inter-national art was well enough established that he was called to The Hague to judgethe authenticity of twelve Italian paintings.76 With these experiences to guide him,Vermeer likely looked to Italian ± and perhaps French ± sources, when considering



the proper portrayal of Mary Magdalen. Although copies and prints aftercontemporary artists working outside the Netherlands probably influencedVermeer's depiction of Mary Magdalen, a painting by a Dutch artist who hadtravelled to Italy also seems to have served as a compositional and iconographicprototype for the Dutch painter who stayed at home.

Among the Utrecht school of painters who returned north after travel andstudy in Italy, Jan van Bijlert (1598±1671) produced a work that may have a directbearing on the identification of Vermeer's figure as Mary Magdalen (plate 17).77

In his painting entitled either Mary Magdalen Turning from the World to Christor an Allegory of Faith, c. 1625±30 (Bob Jones University, Greenville, SouthCarolina), Van Bijlert depicted a young, beautiful woman who wears her hairdrawn up and back to the nape of the neck, accentuating the expanse of whiteflesh of the upper shoulders and breasts revealed by the marked deÂ colletage. Asshe turns her head away from the globe and pearls on her left, the woman partsher lips and opens her eyes wide to gaze upward in the direction of a crucifix withan expression of sudden awareness. Her suggestive dress and rejection of earthlyobjects has resulted in her identification as Mary Magdalen at the moment of herconversion; however, she has also been identified as a figure of faith, based in parton the absence of traditional Magdalen attributes, such as the vase of ointment orthe skull, and on the similarity of Van Bijlert's figure to other seventeenth-century

16 Peter Paul Rubens, St Magdalen Repentant, c. 1630s. Formerly Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum,Berlin. Photo: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.



depictions of faith, including Vermeer's Allegory of Faith.78 In both Van Bijlert'sscene and Vermeer's painting, the female figures make a dramatic choice to rejectthe temporal pleasures of the world and turn toward the crucifix of Christ whichrepresents the eternal love of Jesus.

Similarities between Vermeer's Allegory of Faith and the penitent Magdalen byVan Bijlert suggest that the younger Delft artist knew the work of the older UtrechtCaravaggist.79 As a young man, Vermeer would have likely met and talked with theartists and art dealers who gathered in the family inn where Vermeer's father,Reynier Jansz., sold and collected paintings, including pictures of the Utrechtschool.80 At the beginning of his own artistic career Vermeer may have trained inUtrecht under the same teacher, Abraham Bloemaert, who taught Van Bijlert.81

Later, after his marriage, Vermeer had first-hand knowledge of a number of Utrechtpaintings that had been inherited by his mother-in-law Maria Thins.82 One of thesepaintings can be specifically identified as Dirck van Baburen's Procuress, a workwhich may allude to theMagdalen's life prior to her conversion, which hangs in twoof Vermeer's genre interiors, The Concert (formerly Isabella Stewart GardnerMuseum, Boston) and the Lady Seated at the Virginals (The Trustees of theNational Gallery, London).83 The descriptive titles of additional paintings in theThins collection provide a list of subjects favoured by the Utrecht school of painters.One of the works cited in the inventory, One Who Decries the World, has beententatively identified as depicting Heraclitus, the weeping philosopher, but the titlemay also refer to a work very much like the picture of the Magdalen rejecting theworld painted by Van Bijlert in c. 1626±30.84 As a mature artist in Delft Vermeer'soccasional transactions as an art dealer and his ongoing connections to artists,collectors and dealers would have provided ample opportunities for him to view artworks, such as Jan van Bijlert's painting of the Magdalen.85

17 Jan van Bijlert, MaryMagdalen Turning from theWorld to Christ, c. 1625±30. BobJones University, Greenville,South Carolina. Photo: Bob JonesUniversity.



Details from both Van Bijlert's and Vermeer's paintings appear in an emblemfrom the 1646 publication, Het masker vand wereldt afgetrocken, by the Jesuitpriest Adriaen Poirters (1605±74).86 In the twelfth print of the book, a worldlywoman in the foreground admires her own reflection in a mirror, while in thebackground a figure, identified as Mary Magdalen, gazes at an image of Christcrowned with thorns (plate 18).87 In this depiction, Mary Magdalen holds a crucifixin her left hand and rests her foot on a terrestrial globe. The title of the emblem, `thePassion of Christ is the best mirror for the God-loving soul', underscores the properchoice made by Mary Magdalen who ignores the pleasures of self-reflection, as wellas the landscape through the open door beyond her, to focus on Christ's Passion.The globe, the crucifix and the crown of thorns, which are associated with MaryMagdalen in Poirters's emblem, reappear in Vermeer's painting of the penitent saintand suggest the Dutch painter was familiar with Poirters's work.

18 `De Passie Christi is den bestenSpiegel' from Adriaen Poirters, Hetmasker vand wereldt afgetrocken,Antwerp, 1672. Photo: The RareBooks Room, The PennsylvaniaState University Libraries.



Indeed, Het masker was considered an emblem-book masterpiece when it firstappeared in 1646 and numerous subsequent editions enhanced its popularityduring the seventeenth century.88 In consideration of the dates and availability ofnumerous editions, as well as Vermeer's close ties with the neighbourhood Jesuitcommunity in Delft, Poirters's illustration of Mary Magdalen could have servedVermeer when he painted his figure of faith in the early 1670s.89

Vermeer's decision to depict the penitent saint Mary Magdalen as a figure offaith in his allegorical work acknowledges a wide range of popular associationsshe had assumed by the seventeenth century. As the favourite female saint of theCounter Reformation, Mary Magdalen was a conflation of three different womencited in the New Testament.90 The identity of the saint rests primarily on the holywoman named Mary of Magdala, who ministered to Jesus and his disciples duringhis public ministry (Luke 8:2±3) and mourned Him at the Crucifixion and theburial (Matthew 27:55±56, 61; Mark 15:40, 47; Luke 23:49±56, 24:10; and John19:25±26). Importantly, Mary of Magdala was the first person to see the emptytomb and to witness the resurrected Christ (John 20:1±2; 11±18 and Mark16:9±11). According to leaders of the early church, especially Gregory the Great,this same women, Mary of Magdala, was the unnamed repentant sinner, generallyidentified as a prostitute, in Luke 7:36±50, and also the contemplative Mary ofBethany in Luke 10:38±42 and John 11:1±44.91 This blending of three biblicalcharacters into one composite saint partially accounts for the numerous Christianroles ascribed to Mary Magdalen by Roman Catholics.92 Her iconography isvaried and especially rich. For example, she appears in biblical scenes, such as theBanquet of Simon, where she anoints Christ's feet; at the Crucifixion, where shemourns her Saviour at the foot of the cross; and in the garden of the Resurrection,where she is the first person to see and recognize the risen Christ. Furthermore,legendary accounts of her life after Christ's Ascension to heaven expand her rolein Christian art and literature so she becomes a symbol of penitence, humility, andearthly and heavenly love.93 In his painting Vermeer recognized the central role offaith and the act of conversion in two important episodes from Mary Magdalen'slife: firstly, at the Banquet of Simon the Pharisee and secondly, at the House ofMartha of Bethany.

Mary Magdalen's initial encounter with Christ occurs at a dinner at the houseof Simon the Pharisee. She appears at the table as a sinner eager to demonstrateher remorse and contrition for her dissolute past. Her actions mystify Simon thePharisee who wonders silently why Christ would allow this wanton woman toapproach him. In Luke 7:44-50, Christ responds to Simon's scepticism:

And turning to the woman, he said to Simon, `Dost thou see this woman?I came into thy house; thou gavest me no water for my feet; but she hasbathed my feet with tears, and has wiped them with her hair. Thou gavestme no kiss; but she, from the moment she entered, has not ceased to kissmy feet. Thou didst not anoint my head with oil; but she has anointed myfeet with ointment. Wherefore I say to thee, her sins, many as they are,shall be forgiven her, because she has loved much. But he to whom little isforgiven, loves little.' And he said to her, `Thy sins are forgiven.' And theywho were at table with him began to say within themselves, `Who is this



man, who even forgives sins?' But he said to the woman, `Thy faith hassaved thee; go in peace.'

In depictions of this scene, Mary Magdalen wears her hair loose and dresses as aprostitute in gaudy clothing. Her appearance underscores the pronouncedtransformation from sinner to believer as she demonstrates her love and faithby the good works of kissing and anointing Christ's feet.

Faith and conversion are also themes found in the second episode from Lukewhen Mary Magdalen and her sister Martha entertain Christ in their home. WhileMartha prepares and serves food, Mary rests at Christ's feet and attentively listensto his teachings. In Luke 10:41±42, Martha complains that she has been left towork alone, `But the Lord answered and said to her, ``Martha, Martha, thou artanxious and troubled about many things; and yet only one thing is needful. Maryhas chosen the best part, and it will not be taken away from her.'' ' In thisaccount, biblical commentators have recognized a contrast between the active lifeof the harried sister Martha and the contemplative life of the calm figure, MaryMagdalen. Furthermore, the sisters have been identified as representing opposingpaths to salvation. As she busily labours in the kitchen, Martha stands for thenecessity of performing good works. Mary Magdalen, on the other hand, turnsaway from the earthly concerns of the hearth and puts her faith in the message ofeternal life promised by Christ.

The precise role of faith in the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternalsalvation as presented in these biblical narratives featuring Mary Magdalen wasfiercely contested by Protestants and Roman Catholics in the sixteenth andseventeenth centuries. Protestants found in both accounts support for thedoctrine of justification by faith alone. Both Martin Luther and Jean Calvintaught that salvation rests solely on faith or belief in the forgiveness of sin by amerciful God and earned by Christ's unique sacrifice on the cross.94 Christ's ownwords in both narratives seem to support the Protestant position. After all,Christ states unequivocally that the unnamed sinner in the house of Simon thePharisee, identified as Mary Magdalen by Roman Catholics, is forgiven her sinsbecause she has faith. In the meeting at the house of Martha and Mary, Christfavours the contemplative figure of Mary Magdalen as the sister having thebetter half. In their writings on the Gospel of St Luke, both Luther and Calvincontrasted the domestic activities of Martha to the spiritual concentration ofMary Magdalen to support their position on faith as the imperative dispositionfor salvation.95

Roman Catholics, however, interpret these biblical scenes featuring MaryMagdalen as emphasizing the necessity of both faith and good works. In contrastto Protestant doctrine, Roman Catholic teaching states that man cannot meritsalvation solely by believing in the compassion of a benevolent God and theredemptive act of Christ's death on the cross. Instead, faith and love must lead toacts of humility and good works that concretely affirm the redemption of eachindividual. Furthermore, for Roman Catholics, Mary Magdalen's conduct at thehouse of Simon the Pharisee, and in the house of her sister Martha, exemplifies thepenitent sinner who recognized her wickedness and desired a conversion to a newlife.96 When she weeps and washes and kisses Christ's feet, Mary Magdalen



publicly reveals her conversion, repentance and desire for forgiveness. WhenChrist says, `Your faith has saved you', He refers to the indispensable role of faithand love as the foundation for the good works required for salvation. Whilevisiting the sisters, Martha and Mary Magdalen, in Bethany, Christ recognizesMary Magdalen's contemplative role, associated with faith, as the better half. Yet,Mary Magdalen's position is incomplete without the equally important secondhalf, which is the active life of good works, represented by Mary Magdalen'ssister, Martha. Together, the faith of Mary Magdalen and the good works ofMartha lead to eternal salvation.97

19 Johannes Vermeer, Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, c. 1655. National Gallery ofScotland, Edinburgh. Photo: National Galleries of Scotland.



Vermeer acknowledged the essential role of both faith and good works whenhe painted Christ in the House of Martha and Mary in c. 1655 shortly aftermarrying Catharina Bolnes in 1653 (plate 19, National Gallery of Scotland,Edinburgh). Scholars have commented on the compositional balance of the sistersaround Christ in Vermeer's early painting.98 Both Martha, who carries a basket ofbread to the table, and Mary Magdalen, who rests on a stool at Christ's feet, gazeat Christ. For his part, Christ engages both figures by gesturing to Mary Magdalenand looking at Martha. Vermeer's unifying composition differs from sixteenth-century interpretations of the theme by artists, such as Pieter Aertsen (1509±75)and Joachim Beucklaer (c. 1530±73), and from contemporary representations bythe Flemish painter Erasmus Quellinus II (1607±78) (plate 20, MuseÂ e des Beaux-Arts, Valenciennes).99 In these works, the active role of Martha and the con-templative role of Mary Magdalen are sharply contrasted in compositions thatseparate and distinguish the realms of each sister. Vermeer's unusual pictorialsolution emphasizes the shared roles of the contemplative and active lives, andsubsequently recognizes the significance of both faith and good works.100

Approximately twenty years after painting Christ in the House of Martha andMary, Vermeer returned to the theme of faith late in his career in his peculiarreligious painting, the Allegory of Faith. As in his early religious work, Vermeermade clear his understanding of Mary Magdalen's association with faith and therole of both faith and good works in obtaining eternal salvation. By depictingMary Magdalen as a richly dressed courtesan in his late religious painting,

20 Erasmus Quellinus II, Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, c. 1645. MuseÂ e des Beaux-Arts, Valenciennes. Photo: ReÂ union des museÂ es nationaux.



Vermeer also alluded to the prostitute's conversion and repentant acts at thehouse of Simon the Pharisee. In addition to these biblical roles, attributed to MaryMagdalen by the Roman Catholic church, Vermeer also acknowledged a well-established designation the Magdalen shared with the Virgin Mary, as the new orsecond Eve.

Unlike the immaculate mother of Christ, who stands as the pure antithesis ofthe first Eve, Mary Magdalen, the reformed prostitute, is the human counterpartto Eve.101 When the serpent tempted Eve to pick the fruit from the tree ofknowledge in the garden of Eden and to eat and share this fruit with her husbandAdam, the first Eve caused the fall of mankind and the subsequent damnation ofall human descendants. The Original Sin of the garden of Eden is represented bythe snake and the partially eaten apple in Vermeer's painting. A garden was alsothe setting for an act of atonement by the second Eve, Mary Magdalen. Afterwitnessing the Crucifixion and discovering the empty tomb, Mary Magdalen cameupon her risen Saviour in a garden where she reached out to Him. By recognizingChrist and announcing His resurrection to the apostles, Mary Magdalen broughthope of eternal life to mankind and compensated for the sin of the first Eve.102 Incontrast to the presumptuous, vain act of the first Eve, who deliberatelycontradicted the law of God and followed the wishes of Satan, Mary Magdalenhumbly rejected human desires by converting, repenting, and dedicating herself toChrist before, during and after His Passion. In his painting, Vermeer depictedMary Magdalen, still wearing the clothing and jewels of her previous life, as thecontrite convert to Christ.

As a sinner par excellence, a whore who led a sinful life of carnality until herconversion, Mary Magdalen represents the essential truth of faith in theredeeming and reconciling love of Jesus Christ. As the new or second Eve, MaryMagdalen symbolizes the New Testament promise of forgiveness, earned throughpenance and good works, and received as the real presence of Christ at the altar.The Counter Reformation recommended Mary Magdalen as a symbol of theChurch Triumphant, a defender of the True Faith, and as a model for the sacra-ments of penance and the eucharist.103 By emphasizing the role of the individual'sresponsibility to repent and do penance for sins committed on earth in order toearn redemption, Mary Magdalen stood in direct opposition to the Calvinistemphasis on simple faith, unencumbered by the sacraments of penance and theeucharist. In Vermeer's painting Mary Magdalen speaks specifically to RomanCatholic faith in conversion, repentance and dedication to the spiritual love ofChrist which is celebrated and received at the altar during the sacrament of thereal presence.

According to most scholars, Vermeer's complicated allegorical image dependson iconographic advice from the local Jesuit missionaries.104 De Jonghacknowledged the role of the Jesuits in order to explain the adaptation of Ripa'sdefinition of faith and Hesius's emblem of the hanging glass globe in Vermeer'spainting.105 Jesuit patronage might also account for the emphasis on the realpresence of Christ at the altar and the correspondence of the mass to theCrucifixion of Christ, as well as the decision to depict Mary Magdalen as a figureof faith based, in part, on an emblem from the Jesuit, Adriaen Poirters's Hetmasker vand wereldt afgetrocken.106 Although recognizing the significance of



Jesuit, Montias claimed that a devout, private patron probably commissioned thework for his or her home.107 It is unlikely that a specific patron for Vermeer'sAllegory of Faith will ever be identified; however, the unusual iconography pointsto a personal interest in this work which may be traced directly to the painter orto his immediate circle of family and friends.

Vermeer became a part of a close, Roman Catholic community when hemarried Catharina Bolnes in 1653 and presumably converted to Catholicism.108 By1660 Vermeer was living at the Papists' Corner in Delft with his wife, three or fourchildren, and his mother-in-law Maria Thins, in a house located next door to theJesuit mission church.109 It is even likely that Roman Catholic parishionersgathered in Vermeer's house to celebrate mass and that this function is depicted bythe artist in the Allegory of Faith. Roman Catholics often met in clandestine,domestic settings and Montias has shown that before moving to Delft, MariaThins's house in Gouda had been used as a Roman Catholic meeting place.110

When her cousin, Jan Geensz. Thins, purchased the house in Delft where Vermeercame to live, Thins may have hoped to facilitate the gathering of Roman Catholicsin this new domestic setting.111

Within the context of this Roman Catholic community in Delft, the intimate,domestic setting of Vermeer's Allegory of Faith is not at all unusual as an actuallocation of contemporary Dutch Catholic mass.112 Many of the objects depicted inVermeer's painting of faith correspond to items in the artist's own death inventoryof February 1676, which strengthens Vermeer's personal involvement in domesticchurch activities. The Crucifixion painting in the background of the Allegory ofFaith may be the painting entitled `Christ on the Cross' in Vermeer's deathinventory.113 The ebony crucifix and the piece of gilt leather, as well as chairs,tapestries, curtains and cushions, are all recorded in this document.114 Inconsideration of the objects included in his Allegory of Faith, Vermeer appearsintentionally to have personalized the domestic setting for the celebration ofthe mass.

In order to appreciate the full, rich meaning of the Allegory of Faith, one mustacknowledge the community of believers gathered at the Delft Papists' Corner.Vermeer's painting of faith, the real presence of Christ on the altar, and thepenitent saint Mary Magdalen, met the needs of the Catholic community in aprivate devotional setting. Vermeer's work is a finely painted masterpiece that tiesVermeer to his community, family, and home. In the domestic sanctuary depictedin Vermeer's Allegory of Faith, the New Testament of Christ is renewed in theholy sacrament of the altar. The opened curtain reveals the altar on which thehistorical Crucifixion depicted in the painting on the back wall is perpetuallyrenewed in the sacrifice of the mass. The figure of faith, Mary Magdalen,personifies the enduring belief in the miracle of the altar, the real presence ofChrist's body and blood.

Valerie Lind HedquistUniversity of Montana ± Missoula



Notes

A version of this article was presented in March 1989 at the annual conference of the Midwest Art HistorySociety. I wish to thank the scholars of Dutch painting who read early drafts of this paper and suggestedchanges to improve the style and content of the article. Unless otherwise indicated, translations are mine.

1 Publications on Vermeer generally disparagethis late painting. Albert Blankert suggestedthat Vermeer's financial difficulties and hisresultant dependency on patrons accounts forthe `alien' elements in the Allegory of Faith.A. Blankert, J.M. Montias, and G. Aillaud,Vermeer, New York, 1988, p. 146. Arthur K.Wheelock considered the painting a `failure'.A.K. Wheelock, Jr., Jan Vermeer, New York,1988, p. 118. John Nash claimed that Vermeer'spainting is an unconvincing work that revealsan overall weakness in technique and meaning.J. Nash, Vermeer, New York, 1991, p. 108. Foradditional negative responses to Vermeer's latepainting, see C. Dilnot and M. Garcia-Padilla,`The Difference of Allegory', Journal ofPhilosophy and the Visual Arts, New York,1989, note 18, p. 53. In her recent publication,Christiane Hertel considered the reasons for thenegative responses to Vermeer's Allegory ofFaith. Hertel concluded that the painting failsto speak to modern viewers because it followsneither the visual and symbolic traditions ofDutch seventeenth-century genre painting northe allegorical conventions established by artistsin Italy. C. Hertel, Vermeer: Reception andInterpretation, New York, 1996, pp. 205±206.

2 At the end of the sixteenth century, theCalvinist church in the northern Netherlandsagreed to several compromises regardingChristian rituals. Calvinist ministers agreed tobaptize and to marry all Christians, includingCatholics, who wished to celebrate thesesacraments in the church. The Calvinists,however, refused to open communion to otherDutch Christians because the Lord's Supperwas a special sacrament reserved forupstanding members of the Dutch Reformedcommunity. H. Roodenburg, Onder Censuur:De Kerkelijke tucht in de gereformeerdegemeente van Amsterdam 1578±1700,Hilversum, 1990, p. 420. For a comprehensivelook at the long-lived debate over the eucharistin the Netherlands, see P. Polman, O.F.M.,`De Heilige Eucharistie in de NederlandsePolemiek', Studia Catholica, vol. 23, 1948,pp. 239±54 and J.B. Knipping, Iconography ofthe Counter Reformation in the Netherlands,vol. 2, Nieuwkoop, 1974, p. 299. For a reviewof the Roman Catholic situation in thenorthern Netherlands during the seventeenthand eighteenth centuries, see chapter 16,`Protestantization, Catholicization,Confessionalization' and chapter 27,`Confessionalization, 1647±1702', in J. Israel,The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and

Fall 1477±1806, Oxford, 1995, pp. 361±98 and637±76.

3 Nash referred to the table as `altar-like' andSchwartz referred to the altar-like qualities ofthe table in his fictional writings about thepainting. Nash, op. cit. (note 1), p. 106 andG. Schwartz, Bets and Scams: a Novel of theArt World, New York, 1996, p. 80.

4 A.J. Barnouw, `Vermeers zoogenaamd NovumTestamentum', Oud Holland, vol. 32, 1914,pp. 50±4.

5 ibid., p. 52 and Blankert, Montias, and Aillaud,op. cit. (note 1), p. 192.

6 E. de Jongh, `Pearls of Virtue and Pearls ofVice', Simiolus, vol. 8, 1975/76, pp. 69±97.

7 W. Hesius, Emblemata Sacra de fide, spe,charitate, Antwerp, 1636, pp. 88±90 as cited inDe Jongh, op. cit. (note 6), p. 72.

8 A glass sphere also appears in a painting byPeter Paul Rubens. In his painting of the RealPresence of Christ in the Holy Sacrament,Rubens depicted God the Father with His handon a glass orb at the top of the composition.Directly below, a dove, symbolizing the HolyGhost, descends. This work, completed inc. 1609, was engraved by Hendrik Snyers in1643. H. Vlieghe, Corpus Rubenianum LudwigBurchard, Saints, vol. 1, London, 1972, figs. 98and 99; pp. 73±8.

9 Both Protestant and Catholic writers adoptedthe pearl as a symbol of faith. In citingVondel's poem, De Jongh looked to a recentlyconverted Roman Catholic writer for hisreference. In his poem `Toet-steen' Vondelexpressed his discovery of the true, RomanCatholic faith:

My youth, true to heredity,Knew one belief, not two or three,Until a keener vision grewOf worldly things and churchly tooAnd spied out one most beauteous dayThe pearl that had been hid away

As translated in De Jongh, op. cit. (note 6),p. 76.

10 Johannes Vermeer, exhib. cat., NationalGallery of Art, Washington DC, 1995,pp. 190±5.

11 ibid., p. 192.12 ibid.13 D. Arasse, Vermeer, Faith in Painting, trans.

T. Graber, Princeton, N.J., 1994, p. 18 andHertel, op. cit. (note 1), chap. 12, pp. 205±29.

14 Arasse, op. cit. (note 13), p. 84 and Hertel,op. cit. (note 1), pp. 218±19.

15 Arasse, op. cit. (note 13), p. 81.



16 The shape of the cross, formed by theintersection of windows, is a northernRenaissance motif referring to Christ as theSaviour of the World. Among the northernartists who included the cross-forming windowreflection are Robert Campin and Rogier vander Weyden. C. Gottlieb, `The MysticalWindow in Paintings of the Salvator Mundi',Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 56, July±December, 1960, pp. 313±32.

17 Arasse, op. cit. (note 13), p. 85.18 Hertel, op. cit. (note 1), pp. 207±11.19 Matthew 26:17±30; Mark 14:12±26; Luke

22:7±39; and John 13:1±30.20 The Holy Bible; the Old Testament, Douay

Version and the New Testament, ConfraternityVersion, New York, 1961.

21 P. Parsch, The Liturgy of the Mass, trans.H.E. Winstone, London, 1957, pp. 31±2.

22 T. Clemens, `Liturgy and piety in theNetherlands during the seventeenth andeighteenth centuries', in OmnesCircumadstantes, Contributions towards ahistory of the role of the people in the liturgy,eds. C. Caspers and M. Schneiders, Kampen,1990, pp. 197±8.

23 A. vander Kruyssen, Misse, haer korteuytlegginge en godvruchtige oeffeninge onder dezelve, neffens eenige besondere zegeninge en hetgebruyck der H.H. Sacrament, Amsterdam,1651, and Mysterie van den Godts-Dienst der H.Misse, Christi Bloedige Passie Ver-Beeldt in hetOnbloedigh Sacrificie der H. Misse, Haarlem,1676. Clemens, op. cit. (note 22), pp. 197±233.

24 The corporal or pall is a linen cloth markedwith an embroidered cross or other appropriatesymbol used to cover the chalice whenthe celebration of the mass is completed.P. Dearmer, Linen Ornaments of the Church,London, 1929, p. 19.

25 The alb is an ankle-length, sleeved, white tunic,which is belted at the waist and is worn bymost clergy officiating at mass. Over the alb,the priest wears an oval, sleeveless garmentcalled the chasuble. The priest also wears anarrow strip of silk, called a stole, over hisshoulders. The stole and chasuble arefrequently decorated with embroidery. J. Mayo,A History of Ecclesiastical Dress, New York,1984: alb, p. 129; chasuble, pp. 141±3; stole,pp. 171±4.

26 The Haarlem text compares the alb to thewhite garment of Herod. The maniple and stolesignify the ties, belts, chains, and ropes withwhich Christ was bound. The amice, arectangular neckcloth, corresponds to theblindfold and the chasuble is Christ's heavycross. The biretta, a stiff, three-cornered hat, isanalogous to the crown of thorns. See theintroductory prayer before the mass in Mysterievan den Godts-dienst and Mayo, op. cit. (note25), pp. 58, 132, and 137.

27 `De Mis verthoont u Christi doodt, Die hy leeom ons sonden groot: O ziel leert heir aenGodts autaer, Al wat Godts Soon lee opCalvaer!' Mysterie van den Godts-dienst,op. cit. (note 23), p. 7.

28 Seventeenth-century Dutch mass booksfollowed an established pattern in therelationship between image and text. Standardvisual parallels between Passion scenes and theeucharistic mass were presented withtraditional texts in a series of 30±35 steps inorder to explain the actions of the priest duringthe mass. Clemens, Omnes Circumadstantesop. cit. (note 22), p. 198.

29 The stole is a long, narrow band of wool orsilk worn around the back of the neck with theends, which usually terminate in fringes ortassles, hanging down in the front. D.Marshall-Martin, Ecclesiastical Dress andVestments of the Roman Catholic Church fromthe Eleventh Century to the Present: AHandbook of Patterns, Construction andVesting Procedures for Use in the Theatre, AnnArbor, Mich., 1980, p. 114.

30 `Die beteeckent de ghehoorsaemhet Christi totde doodt des kruys toe: daerom doet-se denPriester aen den hals/als een oick oft goreel.'J. David, S.J., Den Bloem-hof der KerckelickerCeremonien, Antwerp, 1622, p. 76.

31 As one of the four main liturgical colours,which also include red, white and black, greenis an all-purpose liturgical colour, appropriatefor a domestic church setting. Although thecolour green has no special liturgicalsignificance, it is generally associated with hopeand anticipation. C.H. Staal, `De kleuren vande liturgische gewaden', Jaarboek Oud Utrecht,1993, p. 24.

32 `. . . beteeckent ons de groenicheydt endejeughdt der deughden/soo onsen Heeresy-selven by een groen hout geleeck; onsleerende dat wy hem altijdt in heylicheydt deslevens behoorde te dienen; al t' jaer door evengroen ende vruchtbaer in t' goedt.' David,op. cit. (note 30), p. 31. I wish to acknowledgethe assistance of Yolanda Doorhout-Mees intranslating this passage.

33 `. . . in schoone tapissten, beelden, schilderijen,lichten, ghekroonsel; ende boven all inverscheyden reliquien ende ghebeenten derheylighen.' David, op. cit. (note 30), p. 26.

34 Eighteenth-century prints illustrating theinteriors of Roman Catholic churchesestablished in Amsterdam in the seventeenthcentury depict sanctuaries which are similar inappearance to the altar area painted byVermeer. See the following prints of various`schuilkerken' or hidden church interiors asreproduced in W. Tepe, O.P., XXIV PaepscheVergaderplaetsen Schuilkerken in Amsterdam,Amstelveen, 1984. The print of the Franciscanchurch, t'Boompje, p. 49; the Augustinian



church, de Ster, p. 83; the Jesuit church, deKrijtberg, p. 92; de Lelie on the Boommarkt,p. 129; and het Maagdenhuis, p. 180. Twoextant examples of eighteenth-century RomanCatholic altars from churches in Amsterdamresemble Vermeer's representation of a churchinterior in the Allegory of Faith: theMaagdenhuis altar from 1784±8, which is nowin the Rijksmuseum Het Catharijneconvent inUtrecht and the early eighteenth-century altarfrom the Amsteram hidden church, Ons' LieveHeer op Solder, which is in situ at theAmstelkring Museum.

35 According to Ydema's publication on tapestriesin Dutch painting, carpets were intended foruse on tables and other pieces of furniture. Itwas not customary to find carpets on the floorsof Dutch interiors, although they areoccasionally depicted in this manner in genrepaintings and portraits where the importanceof the sitters is suggested by the luxury of thecarpet under their feet. Ydema noted a numberof carpet types throughout Vermeer's oeuvre,but the carpets on the altar steps and hangingin the foreground of the Allegory of Faith arenot mentioned. O. Ydema, Carpets and theirDatings in Netherlandish Paintings 1540±1700,Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1991, p. 124.

36 `Een fraye tapeet voor den hooge altaar tegebruycken; eenen grotten ijseren luchten omop allersiele-day te begruycken, dry beelden,een van onze lieve Vrou, een van S. Barbara,een van San Anna.' In some cases, Protestantsand Catholics shared worship locations inplaces where only one church was available.This arrangement was especially evident incities such as Venlo, Roermond, andMaastricht in the province of Limburg, andthroughout the Generality Lands. W.A.J.Munier, Het Beginfase van het s.g.Simultaneum in de Kerk van de H.H. Nicolaasen Barbara te Valkenburg (1632±1687),Valkenburg, 1985, p. 38.

37 At the Valkenburg church, the Protestants hidthe Catholic altar with a curtain during theirturn in the church in order to hide the papisthigh altar. Munier, op. cit. (note 36), p. 38. Foran illustration of a church interior with ahanging curtain, see the frontispiece of J.W.van der Steegen, S.J., De Christelycke Leeringheverstaenelycker uyt-geleyt door eene Beelden-sprake, Antwerp, 1647 as reproduced in P.Dirkse, JezuõÈeten in Nederland, Utrecht, 1991,p. 99. Representations of altar curtains occurthroughout the illustrations of both theAmsterdam and Haarlem mass books. See,especially, illustrations 20 and 36 in Mysterievan den Godts-dienst, op. cit. (note 23).

38 `. . . den autaer als eenen hemel ende throonGodts is/ende de gordijnen de woldcken dieopen gaen/als men het heylich lichaem onsesheeren daer consacreert/ende/als uyt den hemel

voordtcomende/den volcke vertoont.' David,op. cit. (note 30), p. 29.

39 For example, in northern Renaissance art, altarcurtains are depicted in scenes of thecelebration of the mass. The curtain is pulledback to reveal the elevation of the host in theMass of Saint Giles (National Gallery, London)by the Master of Saint Giles. B.G. Lane, TheAltar and the Altarpiece: Sacramental Themesin Early Netherlandish Painting, New York,1984, pp. 53±7.

40 Arasse, op. cit. (note 13), p. 122.41 Mysterie van den Godts-dienst, op. cit. (note

23), illustrations 21 and 31.42 In many of Vermeer's paintings, the original

green has turned blue as the yellows in themixture have oxidized. Blankert, Montias, andAillaud, op. cit. (note 1), p. 116.

43 `. . . dat daer levendich het selve sacrificegeoffert wort/'t welck eens aen `t H. kruys isopgeoffert geweest; ende dat men daerom in dedienst der Misse de Passie Christi moet vooroogen hebben.' David, op. cit. (note 30), p. 27.

44 Missals contain the complete Roman Rite ofthe mass for every day of the year. NewCatholic Encyclopedia, ed. Catholic Universityof America, vol. 9, New York, 1967±88, p. 897.Missals mentioned among the belongings of theJesuit hidden churches in `s-Gravenhage andGroningen resemble the book on the altar inVermeer's painting. Catalogue entries nos. 91and 92 in Dirkse, op. cit. (note 37), p. 93.

45 In the introductory essay to Nederlands Zilver,the authors state that thousands of liturgicalsilver works were produced during theseventeenth century for both Protestants andCatholics. Importantly, silversmiths of variousdenominations worked for the Catholic church.For example, the Lutheran silversmith, MichielEsselbeeck, produced a great number of silverobjects for Catholic worship. A.L. derBlaauwen, Nederlands Zilver, Dutch Silver1580±1830, `s-Gravenhage, 1979, pp. xvii and354.

46 L. van den Bergh-Hoogterp and J.J. Roosjen,`De Utrechtse zilversmith Christoffel Jansz.Visscher en zijn werk voor de schuilkerken inde jaren 1656 tot 1659', Antiek, vol. 21,1986±7, p. 153.

47 `. . . sekere afgodische beelden streckende totbespottinge ende lasteringe van het lijden ensterven Jesu Christi.' R.B. Evenhuis, Ook datwas Amsterdam, vol. 2, Amsterdam, 1966,p. 195.

48 `. . . gants onlijdzaam ende godloos.' Evenhuis,op. cit. (note 47), p. 195.

49 Arasse claimed that Vermeer avoided theSacrifice of Abraham because this theme hadCalvinist associations in seventeenth-centuryHolland. Arasse, op. cit. (note 13), p. 107. ForHertel, the substitution resulted from Vermeer'spreference for the static depiction of the



Crucifixion, in place of the active scene ofAbraham's sacrifice. Hertel, op. cit. (note 1),p. 211.

50 Wheelock and Broos suggested that thesubstitution of Christ on the Cross for theimage of Abraham's Sacrifice is related to theimportance of Christ's Crucifixion to theJesuits. The authors quote St Ignatius in theclose to his Spiritual Exercises, `Imagine Christour Lord before you, hanging upon the cross.Speak with Him of how, being the creator hethen became man, and how, possessing eternallife, He submitted to temporal death to die forour sins.' Since Wheelock and Broos failed toidentify the setting as a religious sanctuary, theauthors were unable to recognize theCrucifixion of Christ as central to the doctrineof the real presence of Christ on the altarduring the Roman Catholic mass. JohannesVermeer, op. cit. (note 10), p. 192.

51 Hertel noted this doubling of Christ on theCross, as well as other separations andparallels, in Vermeer's composition. Accordingto Hertel, by multiplying the number ofduplicate associations, Vermeer underscored thedisorder and multi-referential function ofobjects in his painting of faith. Hertel, op. cit.(note 1), p. 217.

52 The typological pairing of these sacrifices iswell established. L. ReÂ au, Iconographie de l'ArtChreÂ tien, Paris, 1955±9, vol. 1, p. 205. Thisjuxtaposition of the old and new covenantsappears in Flemish imagery of faith and thetriumph of the eucharist. In Otto van Veen'sTriumph of Faith from the series of theTriumph of the Catholic Church, the twosacrifices, the sacrifice of Isaac and theCrucifixion of Christ, frame a figure of faithriding in a triumphant chariot. Hertel, op. cit.(note 1), p. 209.

53 Rev. J. Gassner, The Canon of the Mass, ItsHistory, Theology and Art, St Louis, 1949,pp. 276±7.

54 `Een zittende Vrouw met meer beteekenisse,verbeeldende het Nieuwe Testament, doorVermeer van Delft, kragtig en gloejentgeschildert.' Auction Herman van Swoll,Amsterdam, April 22, 1699, lot 25. Blankert,Montias, Aillaud, op cit. (note 1), p. 193.

55 ibid.56 Wheelock and Broos suggested that Vermeer

symbolically alluded to the eucharist asbridging the physical and spiritual realms in hispainting; however, the authors did not clarifyhow or why this is accomplished in theAllegory of Faith. Johannes Vermeer, op. cit.(note 10), p. 192.

57 According to Hertel, Vermeer borrowed fromthree of four similar versions of this subjectpainted by Jordaens between 1617 and 1625.Hertel, op. cit. (note 1), p. 211, n. 177.

58 Montias believed that the formal changes

Vermeer made to Jordaens's originalcomposition were to avoid pictorial confusionin the Allegory of Faith. J.M. Montias,Vermeer and his Milieu: A Web of SocialHistory, Princeton, N.J., 1989, p. 189. Arassealso cited these omissions as necessary to theformal unity of the work. According to Arasse,the figures of Mary Magdalen and the man onthe ladder would have distracted fromVermeer's overall composition. Arasse, op. cit.(note 13), p. 25. Hertel, too, noted thereplacement of Mary Magdalen by thepersonification of faith as a formal decisionwithout additional significance. Hertel, op. cit.(note 1), p. 214.

59 Mary Magdalen is a standard exemplar of faithworking through the word (fides ex auditu).According to both St Bonaventura and Ludolfof Saxony, Mary Magdalen symbolizes faith.D. Visser, `Faith and Love, the Iconography ofMary Magdalene 1450±1650', in The Harvestof Humanism in Central Europe, ed. M.P.Fleischer, St Louis, 1992, pp. 283 and 289. Seealso S. Haskins, Mary Magdalen: Myth andMetaphor, New York, 1993, p. 252.

60 Hertel links the deÂ colleteÂ of the figure of faithto the description of the personification in thespecific entry for Fede Christiana Catholica inthe Dutch version of Cesare Ripa's Iconologia.`She is bare around the shoulders and breast'Hertel, op. cit. (note 1), p. 218.

61 Frederick Cummings, `The Meaning ofCaravaggio's ``Conversion of the Magdalen'' ',Burlington Magazine, vol. 116, 1974, pp. 572±8.

62 M.D. Garrard, Artemisia Gentileschi: TheImage of the Female Hero in Italian BaroqueArt, Princeton, N.J., 1989, pp. 45±6. See, too,R. Contini and G. Papi, Artemisia, exhib. cat.,Florence, Casa Buonarroti, 1991, pp. 129±32.

63 Domenichino 1581±1641, exhib. cat., Rome,Palazzo Venezia, 1996, pp. 464-6 and R.E.Spear, Domenichino, New Haven, 1982,pp. 261±2.

64 The Golden Legend by Jacobus da Voraginedisseminated the penitent saint's life storythroughout Europe and emphasized, inparticular, Mary Magdalen's final years insouthern France. Haskins, op. cit. (note 59),pp. 222±5.

65 Johannes Vermeer, op. cit. (note 10), p. 195citing D.S. Pepper, Guido Reni: A CompleteCatalogue of his Works with an IntroductoryText, Oxford, 1984, cat. no. 151, illus. no. 177.

66 J. Thuillier, B. Brejon de Lavergnee, D. Lavalle,Vouet, exhib. cat., Paris, Grand Palais, 1990,pp. 248±9.

67 According to eighteenth-century critics, LeBrun's painting of the repentant Magdalen washis chef d'oeuvre and the work was reproducedin contemporary prints by N. Bazin and J.Couvay. Charles Le Brun 1619±1690, Peintre etDessinateur, exhib. cat., Versailles, 1963, p. 67



and C.M. Allmendinger, `Charles Le Brun'sPenitent Magdalen Reexamined', Athanor, vol.14, 1996, p. 49.

68 ibid., p. 51 and F. Bardon, `Le TheÁ me de laMadeleine peÂ nitente au XVIIieÁ me sieÁ cle enFrance', Journal of the Warburg and CourtauldInstitutes, vol. 31, 1968, pp. 274±306.

69 De Jongh referred to the pearl as an idealobject to highlight the phenomenon of multi-interpretability. De Jongh, op. cit. (note 6),pp. 76±82.

70 ibid., p. 82.71 Òntoyt of toyt u, Maria Magdalene, als ghy u

hayr ontvlecht, verwerpt de luyster steenen,Verbreeckt her perlen-snoer, versmaet herschijnbaer goet' (Unadorn or adorn yourself,Mary Magdalen, when you unbraid your hair,reject the shiny jewels, break your pearlnecklace, despise all glimmering wares), fromthe poem, `Maria Magdalena aan de voetenvan Jesus', Bloemlezing uit de KatholiekePoeÈ zie: Dichters der Contra-Reformatie, ed.A. van Duinkerken, vol. 2, Utrecht, 1932,p. 232. Tesselschade converted to RomanCatholicism in 1641±2, at about the same timeVondel did, and only about one decade prior toVermeer's conversion. J.A. Parente, Jr., ÀnnaRoemers Visscher and Maria TesselschadeRoemers Visscher', in Women Writing inDutch, ed. K. Aercke, New York, 1994, p. 149.

72 Rubens painted two works of the repentantMagdalen. The earlier painting, St MagdalenRepentant, c. 1620 (Kunsthistorisches Museum,Vienna) depicts an elegantly attired femalefigure, looking heavenward, and resting herfoot on an overturned box of jewels. Thiscomposition was engraved by LucasVorsterman. In the later painting, St MagdalenRepentant, c. 1630s (formerly Kaiser Friedrich-Museum, Berlin), Rubens depicted a nudefemale figure in a Venus pudica pose, lookingtoward heaven with her foot resting on askull and snake. Vlieghe, op. cit. (note 8),vol. 2, pp. 117±20. Anthony van Dyck'sdepictions of Mary Magdalen closely resembleRubens's work in Berlin. E. Larsen, ThePaintings of Anthony van Dyck, Freren, 1988,pp. 100±01.

73 One rich source of information regarding thecollection of international prints and copiesafter foreign paintings is the 1656 inventory ofRembrandt's possession. In his kunst caemer,engravings by Baroccio, Raphael, Mantegna,the Carracci and Guido Reni, among others,are listed. K. Clark, Rembrandt and the ItalianRenaissance, New York, 1964, pp. 201±02.More recently, see the work of J.M. Montias,Àrt Dealers in the Seventeenth CenturyNetherlands', Simiolus, vol. 18, 1988, pp. 244±56 and M. North, Art and Commerce in theDutch Golden Age, trans. C. Hill, New Haven,1997, pp. 107±31.

74 Just such a relationship between Italian andDutch art is conjectured to explain, in part,the attribution of a painting of St Praxedis inThe Barbara Piasecka Johnson Collection toVermeer early in his career. This canvas is acopy after a painting by the Florentine artistFelice Ficherelli (1605±69). If the JohnsonCollection work is by Vermeer, the Dutch artisteither went to see the original Ficherelli canvasin Italy, where it has been since the seventeenthcentury, or saw a copy, no longer extant, inthe northern Netherlands. Questions about theattribution of St Praxedis to Vermeer haveintensified since the 1995 Vermeer exhibition.B. Broos, G.J.M. Weber, J.S. Wadum and C.Brown all reject the attribution of St Praxedisto Vermeer. Vermeer Studies, eds. I. Gaskelland M. Jonker, New Haven, 1998, pp. 30,217±19, and endnote 73 on p. 223. Wheelockcontinues to support the attribution toVermeer. A.K. Wheelock, Jr., Vermeer & theArt of Painting, New Haven, 1995, pp. 22±3;Johannes Vermeer, op. cit. (note 10), pp. 86±9.

75 Although Italian paintings and prints wereavailable in the north, only the most influentialcollectors had these expensive works. North,op. cit. (note 73), p. 116. For example, theAmsterdam art dealer and collector Johannesde Renialme had a number of paintings byforeign artists in his possession at the time ofhis death in 1657. Since this collector ownedVermeer's early, lost painting of `the visit tothe tomb' and had a number of acquaintancesin Delft, a personal connection between thetwo men is possible. Montias, Vermeer and hisMilieu, op. cit. (note 58), pp. 106 and 141.

76 In his testimony dated 23 May 1672, Vermeerstated that the pictures were `not only notoutstanding Italian painting, but to thecontrary, great pieces of rubbish and badpaintings, not worth by far the tenth part ofthe afore-mentioned proposed prices'. Montias,Vermeer and his Milieu, op. cit. (note 58),pp. 206±208.

77 Van Bijlert travelled to Italy in 1621 andreturned to Utrecht by 1625. P.H. Janssen, Janvan Bijlert (1597/98±1671), Amsterdam, 1998,pp. 38 and 40.

78 Janssen considers the Bob Jones painting byVan Bijlert an allegory of faith. The conversionand rejection of earthly things suggest toJanssen that the figure represents faith. Janssen,op. cit. (note 77), p. 123. In recent exhibitioncatalogues, several additional authors agreedwith Janssen that the figure represents faithrather than Mary Magdalen. D. Weller, Sinnersand Saints, Darkness and Light, Caravaggioand His Dutch and Flemish Followers, Raleigh,North Carolina, 1998, p. 79 and J.A. Spicerand L.F. Orr, Masters of Light: Dutch Paintersin Utrecht during the Golden Age, New Haven,1997, p. 188.



79 This comparison, without noting its validity,was first published by Blankert when he wrote,Ìt would seem that Vermeer wanted to make ahistory painting of the type of Mary MagdalenForsakes the World in Favor of Christ by theUtrecht Caravaggist Jan van Bijlert, while atthe same time producing one of his own typicalinteriors'. Blankert, Montias, and Aillaud, op.cit. (note 1), p. 146.

80 Montias, Vermeer and his Milieu, op. cit. (note58), pp. 56±7 and pp. 76±7.

81 ibid., pp. 106±107.82 ibid., p. 122.83 ibid., p. 122.84 ibid., p. 123.85 We know Vermeer's activities as an art dealer

only by his wife's testament after the artist'sdeath. Given the lack of any additionalreferences to Vermeer's work as an art dealer,Montias assumed that any art transactionswould have been on a small scale. Montias,Vermeer and his Milieu, op. cit. (note 58),p. 185.

86 Het masker is an expanded version of the verysuccessful 1645 publication, Ydelheyt deswerelts. P.J. Meertens and H. Sayles,Nederlandse Emblemata, Leiden, 1983, p. 138.

87 A. Poirters, Het Masker vand wereldtafgetrocken, Antwerp, 1672, p. 292.

88 As many as twenty-five editions attest to itspopularity. Meertens and Sayles, op. cit. (note86), p. 138.

89 E. de Jongh has recently suggested that thesteady equilibrium of the balance in Vermeer'sWoman Holding a Balance (The NationalGallery of Art, Washington DC) may refer tothe act of examining one's conscience as setforth by Jesuit writers, such as Poirters.Vermeer Studies, op. cit. (note 74), p. 361.

90 ReÂ au, op. cit. (note 52), vol. 3, part 2,pp. 846±59 and New Catholic Encyclopedia,op. cit. (note 44), pp. 387±9.

91 ibid. and K.M. Craig, `Pars Ergo MarthaeTransit: Pieter Aertsen's `Ìnverted'' Paintingsof Christ in the House of Martha and Mary',Oud Holland, vol. 97, 1983, pp. 25±6.

92 Protestants did not accept the identification ofMary Magdalen, the unnamed sinner, andMary of Bethany as the same person. Calvincriticized the ignorance of Catholic clergy forbelieving that Mary of Bethany, the repentantsinner in Luke's Gospel, and Mary of Magdalawere one and the same. Calvin wrote, Ùnderthe papacy, monks and other hypocrites haveexhibited too great ignorance in imagining thatMary, the sister of Lazarus, was the sinnerwhom St Luke mentions.' Haskins, op. cit.(note 59), p. 249.

93 D. Apostolos-Cappadona, Ìmages,Interpretations, and Traditions: A Study of theMagdalene', College Theology Society, vol. 29,1983, p. 113.

94 J. von Henneberg, `Poussin's Penance: A NewReading', Storia dell'Arte, vol. 61, 1987, p. 231.

95 Craig, op. cit. (note 91), p. 39, note 46.96 Von Henneberg, op. cit. (note 94), p. 232.97 This position is promulgated in sixteenth- and

seventeenth-century biblical commentaries onthe Lucan passage about Christ in the house ofMartha and Mary. Salvation is the culminationof good works that can only result afterconversion and faith. M. Verbeeck Verhelst,`Madeleine dans Les Commentaires Bibliquesdu Dix-SeptieÁ me SieÁ cle', in L'Image de laMadeleine du XVe au XIXe SieÁ cle, ed. Y.Giraud, Fribourg, 1996, pp. 150±1.

98 Johannes Vermeer, op. cit. (note 10), pp. 94±5.99 Although the content of the two works differs,

Wheelock and Broos noted pictorial similaritiesbetween Vermeer's painting and the work byQuellinus that may suggest that the Dutchartist knew the Flemish painter's composition.Johannes Vermeer, op. cit. (note 10), p. 92.

100 ibid., pp. 94±5.101 Haskins, op. cit. (note 59), pp. 65 and 141.102 ibid., p. 65.103 ibid., p. 252.104 De Jongh, op. cit. (note 6), p. 75; Montias,

Vermeer and his Milieu, op. cit. (note 58),p. 202, note 94; Johannes Vermeer, op. cit.(note 10), pp. 190±2.

105 De Jongh, op. cit. (note 6), p. 75.106 For an introduction to the contributions of

Jesuit missionaries in the Netherlands, seeDirkse, op. cit. (note 37).

107 Montias, Vermeer and his Milieu, op. cit. (note58), p. 202.

108 Although Vermeer was undoubtedly part of theRoman Catholic community in Delft, Vermeer'sconversion to Roman Catholicism has beenquestioned. P.H.A.M. Abels, `Church andreligion in the life of Johannes Vermeer', inDutch Society in the age of Vermeer, eds D.Haks and M.C. van der Sman, Zwolle, 1996,p. 74.

109 ibid., pp. 176±7.110 ibid., p. 111.111 Montias, Vermeer and his Milieu, op. cit. (note

58), p. 121 and Vermeer Studies, op. cit. (note74), p. 106, n. 38.

112 The intimate, domestic setting has causedconfusion for most scholars in interpreting thework. In his monograph, Blankert stated, Èvenif we understand the symbolism, it is unclearwhy the scene takes place in a fashionableDutch living room.' Blankert, Montias andAillaud, op. cit. (note 1), p. 146. Montias hasrecently written that he believes Vermeer'shome may have been used as a place ofworship. Vermeer Studies, op. cit. (note 74),p. 99 and endnote 38, p. 106.

113 According to Montias, the Crucifixion paintingin Vermeer's Allegory of Faith and the `grooteschildery, sijnde Christus aen `t Cruys' in the



`binnenkeucken' are probably the samepainting. Scholars generally assume thatVermeer owned the Jordaens version now in aprivate collection in Antwerp. Another RomanCatholic subject, `een van Veronica,' was alsorecorded in this inventory. Montias, Vermeerand his Milieu, op. cit. (note 58), pp. 155 and188±9 and Hertel, op. cit. (note 1), p. 211.

114 The inventory notes `seven ells of gold-tooled

leather on the wall' in the interior kitchen. Alarge painting of `Christ on the Cross', whichMontias believes is the Jordaens variation onthe back wall of the Allegory of Faith, was alsofound in the interior kitchen. Montias, Vermeerand his Milieu, op. cit. (note 58), pp. 155 and191. The complete inventory is published inMontias's study on Vermeer. Montias, Vermeerand his Milieu, op. cit. (note 58), pp. 339-44.



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