Faith, 1858. Oil on canvas; 23 1/4 x 13 7/8 inches (59.2 x 35.1 cm). Collection of Ferens Art Gallery, Hull, accession no. KINCM:2005.5148. This image, downloaded for Art UK can be used only for non-commercial research or private study purposes. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Leslie exhibited this painting at the Royal Academy in 1858, no. 261. Faith was considered one of the three theological virtues, the other two being Hope and Charity. In Renaissance art these virtues were frequently shown as beautiful pious women. Faith was often portrayed holding the attributes of a chalice and a cross, symbols of Christ's sacrifice. Other attributes that could be included were the lamb, a palm branch indicative of the tree of life, and a book symbolizing wisdom and prudence. Often Faith was portrayed gazing upwards towards heaven. None of these features are present, however, in Leslie's painting. Instead he has chosen to portray Faith as a young maiden standing upright with loosened hair and downcast eyes. She is wearing a white chemisette with attached "Bishop" sleeves and with an overlying silvery-grey tunic over yet another over-garment in black. A red cloak is tied around her waist with its edges held at the base of her neck by a cloak-clasp. With her right hand she opens a door and enters into an enclosed space, possibly a walled garden, while her left hand holds upright a large bulrush. A bulrush can be used to convey various symbolic meanings, including protection, trust, docility, purity, and faith.
This work has quite obviously been influenced by the first phase of Pre-Raphaelitism. One wonders whether Leslie has, in particular, been looking at William Holman Hunt's The Light of the World completed in 1853 and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1854. In Hunt's picture the door at which Christ is knocking represents the human soul that can't be opened from the outside because it has no handle. The door hinges are overgrown with ivy, signifying that the door has never been opened, but that Christ is asking for permission to enter. The inscription Hunt included under the picture was taken from the Book of Revelation 3: 20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me." The obscure symbolism of Leslie's painting may be explainable in much the same fashion. Faith is opening a door, again without a handle, to enter the soul of someone who has not been a believer in Christ based on the obviously overgrown and unattended garden that she enters. Once the door has been unlocked Faith allows the unbeliever to enter into the spiritual fulfillment that can be found in the more ordered world seen in the background. The door and the garden's undergrowth are particularly painted with a Pre-Raphaelite precision and intensity.
Contemporary critics also found Leslie's obscure symbolism difficult to interpret. The Art Journal wasn't certain exactly how the female figure was meant to represent Faith: "No. 261. Faith, G. D. Leslie. The title is interpreted by a female figure, draped according to the feeling prevalent in Christian Art, and entering a garden wicket. There is some careful execution in the draperies, but the relation between the conception and the title is not satisfactory" (166). That reviewers' failure to understand the meaning of this painting is not surprising because they had the same problem with a related work that Leslie had earlier exhibited that same year at the British Institution. A critic for The Saturday Review commented: "The Voice of Mercy (52), by Mr. G. D. Leslie, is an unintelligible allegory in a crude Pre-Raffaelite manner. Two tall stiff women are standing in unimpassioned attitudes before a paling with a gate in it – the one holding a drawn sword and a chained greyhound, the other laying her hand on the dog's leash. Every spike of grass stands on end, and the whole scene takes place in a vacuum. There used to be feeling and real power of painting in the works of this school" (189).
Faith did find favour with at least one member of the art-loving public because it was one of the selections for The Art Union of London Prizes that year.
Bibliography
"The Art Union of London Prizes." The Builder XVI (14 August 1858): 558.
Faith. Art UK. Web. 8 August 2023.
"The Modern Masters at the British Institution." The Saturday Review V (February 20, 1858): 189-90.
"The Royal Academy." The Art Journal New Series IV (1 June 1868): 161-72.
Created 7 August 2023