Artwork Page for Hope (from the Tarocchi, series B: Cosmic Principles & Virtues, #39)

Details / Information for Hope (from the Tarocchi, series B: Cosmic Principles & Virtues, #39)

Hope (from the Tarocchi, series B: Cosmic Principles & Virtues, #39)

before 1467

Master of the E-Series Tarocchi

(Italian, active 1460s)
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Culture
Italy, Ferrara, 15th century
Medium
engraving
Credit Line
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1924.432.39
Catalogue raisonné
Hind E.I. 39a
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

This engraving is part of the group marked with the letter “B”, and named Cosmic Principles and the Virtues, which comprises the three Universal principles (Light, Time, and Space) alongside the four cardinal virtues (Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude and Justice) and the three theological ones (Faith, Hope, and Charity). These latter are a Christian concept originated from a passage in the first Book of Corinthians (1 Corinthians 13:13).

Here personified as a full-length female figure, Speranza (Hope) raises her hands in gesture of prayer, turns slightly to left, and looks upwards towards a heavenly light. At her lower left is a phoenix on the top of a burning fire. This mythical bird was thought to symbolize Hope as it cyclically rises again from its own ashes.
A vertically oriented engraving in black ink on aged paper depicts a robed woman within a diamond-patterned frame. Her palms are pressed together as she gazes toward a rayed sun in the upper left. At her feet, a phoenix sits in a burning nest. Fine, dense hatching lines define the figure and deep folds of her robes. Below, the inscription reads "SPERANZA XXXVIIII" between the letter "B" and number "39."

Hope (from the Tarocchi, series B: Cosmic Principles & Virtues, #39)

before 1467

Master of the E-Series Tarocchi

(Italian, active 1460s)
Italy, Ferrara, 15th century

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