Allegory of the Catholic Faith

This picture draws on the complex language of allegory to depict the triumph of the Catholic Church at a moment when public celebrations of the Mass were forbidden in the Dutch Republic. A woman, representing the church itself, places one foot atop a globe, while, in the foreground, the cornerstone of the church crushes the serpent of evil. Vermeer converted to Catholicism before his marriage, and his painting, which includes a table laden with chalice, missal, and crucifix, may also refer to the celebration of the Mass in so-called" hidden churches" within private homes.