Faith

These panels were never meant for a wall. In 1470 they were fitted into the seat-backs of the audience hall of Florence's merchant court, on the Piazza della Signoria, so the officials settling trade disputes sat framed by the Virtues they were sworn to uphold. Faith is a young woman looking up toward heaven, a processional cross in her left hand and, in her right, the chalice of the Eucharist with its paten laid flat across the top. The gold is the quiet surprise here. The crown and the jewelled clasps are painted with the exactness of the ecclesiastical metalwork Florentine churches actually used.