Faith, Hope and Love. 1822. Oil

Faith, hope and love have been called the three theological or Christian virtues. Often they are depicted symbolically as three women. A cross is usually the attribute of Faith, an anchor of Hope and small children of Love. This shows that we are not dealing with passionate, but caring love, a mother’s selfless devotion to her child.
Unlike the human virtues (wisdom, moderation etc.), the theological virtues are connected with God and therefore form the basis for everything in the world. They are first mentioned in the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians: “But now faith, hope and love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).
In the painting, which is a preliminary work for the decorations in the church of the Tsarskoje Selo Palace in Russia, the allegory Love is located in the place of honour between Faith and Hope. Due to his premature death, Otto Ignatius was not able to finish the work and it was completed by his friend Gustav Adolf Hippius.

Otto Friedrich Ignatius (1794–1824) was a Baltic German painter who worked in St. Petersburg and completed commissions for the imperial court.
Gustav Adolf Hippius (1792–1856), the co-author of the painting, was also a Baltic German painter who worked in St. Petersburg. In his later years, he worked in Tallinn.