The Victory of Faith (painting)

For the Nazi propaganda film, see The Victory of Faith.
The Victory of Faith
ArtistSaint George Hare
Year1891
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions123.3 cm × 200 cm (48.5 in × 79 in)
LocationNational Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Accession201-2
Websitewww.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/4011/

The Victory of Faith is an oil on canvas painting by Irish artist Saint George Hare that was completed in 1891.[a] It is now in the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. It depicts two sleeping nude women, one shackled, apparently intended as Christian martyrs sentenced to death by beasts.[2]

The Victory of Faith is one of several paintings by Hare showing shackled and under-dressed women, another notable example being The Gilded Cage. A contemporary article in The Homiletic Review called it an "impressive depiction of Christian faith and steadfastness" and described the two women to be in a "sisterly embrace",[3] while a modern description by Kobena Mercer named the work as an example of an interracial lesbian couple, likening it to Les Amis by Jules Robert Auguste.[4]

The Victory of Faith was exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition of 1891[5] and at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893.[3] It is currently at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, having been donated to the gallery in 1905.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ 1891 is cited by most sources, but the National Gallery of Victoria where the painting now is also gives 1890 as a possibility.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "The victory of faith". National Gallery of Victoria. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  2. ^ Roach, Joseph (1996). Cities of the Dead: Circum-Atlantic Performance. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 223–224. ISBN 0-231-10460-X.
  3. ^ a b Earnshaw, J. Westby (November 1894). "Homiletic Helps from the Fine Arts of the Columbian Fair". The Homiletic Review. Vol. 28, no. 5. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company. p. 409.
  4. ^ Mercer, Kobena (2016). "5. Avid Iconographies: Isaac Julien". Travel & See: Black Diasporic Art Practices Since the 1980s. Durham: Duke University Press. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-8223-7451-0.
  5. ^ Capes, Bernard; Eglington, Charles, eds. (1 July 1891). "Art Notes". The Theatre. Vol. 27. London: Eglington & Co. p. 42.
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