Terms and conditions of use
The victory of faith
(c. 1890-1891)
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
123.3 × 200.0 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of an anonymous donor, 1905
Gallery location
19th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
Artwork Details
Inscription
inscribed in black paint l.l.: HARE (line through HARE)
Accession Number
201-2
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
History and Legend Human Figures
Subjects (specific)
imprisonment martyrs nudes (representations) prison cells reclining repose (activity) women (female humans)
Provenance
The artist, 1891–1904; Royal Academy of Arts Exhibition, London, 1891, no. 489 (as The victory of faith); World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893, Fine Arts section (Dept. K): Great Britain, Gallery 15, no. 204; Salon de 1894, Paris, no. 9803 (as Une victoire de la foi); Royal Academy of Arts Exhibition, London, 1903, no. 711 (as “Miserere Domine!”; Exhibition of Works by Irish Painters, Guildhall, London, 1904, no. 64 (as “MISERERE DOMINE!” The Victory of Faith); Gift of an anonymous donor, 1905.
Exhibited Royal Academy, London, 1891, no. 489; World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893, Fine Arts section (Dept. K): Great Britain, Gallery 15, no. 230; Salon, Paris, 1894, no. 903; Exhibition of Irish Painting, Guildhall, London, 1904, no. 64; Queensland Art Fund: Exhibition of Pictures from the Southern States; Brisbane Art Gallery, 1930, no 18; The First Fifty Years: 19th Century British Art from the Gallery Archives, Melbourne, 1992, no. 29; Hidden Treasures, David Jones’ Art Gallery, Sydney, 1992.
Frame
Original, by Chapman Bros., London
Frame
This beautifully crafted frame represents a style that was popular in various forms for most of the last two decades of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth century. The basic form was used in variations by the Melbourne framer John Thallon, often as a profile for the work of Frederick McCubbin. See for instance the frame on McCubbin’s, A winter evening (61-2). The Chapman frame is more carefully crafted than the Melbourne variants and did not enter the collection early enough to be used as a model.
Frame Details
Framemaker
Chapman Bros.
London
Date
(1891)
Materials
The frame is built up from a number of wooden sections stacked to create a hollow reverse, which has reduced the impact of dimensional changes in the wood. The hollow of the reverse is braced with blocks at the sides and across the corners. The outer frame carries a torus of imbricated oak leaves, acorns and ivy leaves, which is centred on all sides. The bevelled flat is a section of oak let into the outer frame and carries the third section – what would normally be a slip but is here intended to form the finished sight edge. The frame is gilded with gold leaf, the torus is matte (oil gilded) but the cross-banding and corner bands are burnished on a red bole. The sight-edge section is water gilded. The bevelled oak section is gilded direct to the wood, giving the grain texture to the leaf. This section is marked by drying cracks, which come from either the underlying gilding size or the overlaying finishing size. The gilded surfaces other than the bevel and the torus are brought to a high level of finish and though they are not burnished they present smooth shiny surfaces. The working edge is painted.
Frame Condition
The frame is in good original condition despite the deterioration of the surface of the inner bevel.
Dimensions
161.5 x 238.0 x 14.0 cm; sight 120.5 x 197.0 cmMore Information
National Portrait Gallery