The Faith Adoring the Holy Sacrament

Matteo Civitali was the leading artist in the city of Lucca, Tuscany, during the fifteenth century. His relief, created around 1480, depicts the allegorical figure of Faith. The inscription found in the lower left corner of the work, which was originally made of marble, form the initials of the artist: O.M.C.L. (“Opus Matthæi Civitalis Lucensis”). There are several theories about the original function of the relief. One view is that the work once decorated an altar as part of an allegorical trio comprising Faith, Hope, and Love (Charity). It seems more likely, however, that the relief formed part of a wall tomb, as did the relief panels depicting the theological virtues by Mino da Fiesole (1429—1484) and Giovanni Dalmata (ca. 1440 — 1510), which were made for the tomb of Pope Paul II, who died in 1471.