The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 31, 2026

A horizontally oriented print in black ink depicts figures defined by detailed cross-hatching around a central blank pedestal. At the top, a woman sits with three children. Flanking the pedestal, two women hold a cross and an anchor. In the foreground, four seated men with open books are accompanied by an eagle, a bull, a lion, and a winged figure. Their forms stand out against a background of streaking clouds.

The Three Theological Virtures: Faith, Hope, and Charity, Surrounded by the Four Evangelists

before 1634

Pieter I de Jode

(Flemish, 1570–1634)
Netherlands
Pen and ink, brush and wash over chalk with indications of transfer
Sheet: 20.3 x 27.3 cm (8 x 10 3/4 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2024.75
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

In the period, the virtue of Charity, also described as Love, seen here seated atop the plinth, was usually portrayed as a woman tending to three children.

Description

This drawing is a design for a frontispiece, or title page, for the 1639 edition of the Theatrum Biblicum, a pictorial Bible compiled from print series by various artists illustrating the Old and New Testaments. Pieter De Jode the Elder’s monumental figural types depict the three theological virtues: Charity, atop a blank plinth, Hope, on the right, and Faith, on the left, bordered by the four Apostles with their attributes. The plinth was kept blank in order to be filled in with the title of the book (in this case, the New Testament), in the printed version. De Jode spent his career making and publishing prints primarily for the Antwerp book trade, which flourished during the late 16th and 17th centuries.
  • Private Collection, France
    2024
    (Galerie Lowet de Wotrenge, Antwerp, Belgium, sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)
    September 9, 2024–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=The Three Theological Virtures: Faith, Hope, and Charity, Surrounded by the Four Evangelists|url=false|author=Pieter I de Jode|year=before 1634|access-date=31 May 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2024.75