Allegory of Faith

This is a preparatory drawing for the corresponding figure in the area of the cupola interior in front of the High Altar of the lower chapel of the Palace of Aranjuez. The chapel was built according to Francisco Sabatini’s plans and direction in 1778, the year in which Bayeu painted the cupola. He developed on it the following themes: Attributes of the Virgin and The Glory of the Lamb of God over the High Altar; in front, Faith with the Tablets of the Law; on the Gospel side, Saint Luke Painting the Virgin, and on the Epistle side, the Prophet Isaiah. The figure of Faith is depicted seated frontally and with the veil covering her head. Her right arm is outstretched and her left arm rests on a stone block. The Museo del Prado keeps numerous drawings and several sketches for the Aranjuez Public Chapel. Particularly, the sketch Allegory of the Church (P002492) corresponds to the main figure in this preparatory drawing, and the drawing Young Angel (D000387) corresponds to the angel in the lower-central part. Ramón Bayeu copied the composition of the sketch Allegory of the Church (P002492) in one of the pendentives of the cupola interior of the Basilica of the Pilar in Zaragoza. The Museo del Prado keeps the composition’s preparatory drawing (D000588) for the same figure in which one may observe similarities with this drawing.

Arnáez, Rocío, Catálogo de Dibujos II. Dibujos españoles siglo XVIII. A-B, Madrid, 1975, p.62