Faith

Piero del Pollaiuolo's Faith from around 1470 completes the theological virtue portion of the Tribunale di Mercanzia program — Faith, Hope, and Charity being the three virtues Aquinas defined as necessary for salvation as distinct from the cardinal virtues that governed earthly wisdom and conduct. Faith's personification — a standing woman with her chalice and cross — was the most theologically charged of the virtue series, and Piero's treatment reflected the workshop's ability to combine decorative elegance with theological specificity in the service of Florence's civic religious culture.

Piero renders the personified Faith with the Pollaiuolo workshop's characteristic precise drawing and rich color, maintaining the consistent throne-and-figure format that unifies the civic virtue series.