Fides + Spes + Caritas

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About Fides + Spes + Caritas

FAITH + HOPE + CHARITY



A pool to collect images of Faith, Hope and Charity. Small details of images are also welcome. These allegorical figures appear in stained glass, stone and other media in churches and other buildings all over the world. They represent the Christian virtues described by St Paul in his letter to the Romans.

All three figures are represented as female. Faith usually carries a cross, Hope usually carries an anchor, while Charity is usually shown with children.

Group members can add as many images as they like. The idea is to build up an internet resources of images of Faith, Hope and Charity. Please tag images with 'Faith' 'Hope' or 'Charity' as appropriate. This makes it easier when searching the pool for images. If your photograph shows more than one subject, then please add all tags separately as appropriate. Do feel free to invite other people to the group if you think they would be interested.




In the original Greek of the New Testament, the virtues are named as Πίστις, 'Eλπίς and 'Aγάπη (Pistis, Elpis, and Agape), which become in Latin translation Fides, Spes and Caritas. This in turn is usually translated into English as Faith, Hope and Charity, although by the twentieth century it had become more common to translate Caritas as Love.

The subjects were very popular with 19th century stained glass designers in England. The representation of Christian virtues was considered more properly protestant than that of Catholic Saints which were also popular with some Anglican churches of the time. All three words became popular girls' Christian names in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The virtues are strongly associated with Saints who share their iconography. Faith is often conflated with St Margaret or St Helen, Hope with St Clement, and Charity with the Blessed Virgin Mary. Occasionally, medieval painted work of a Saint has been adapted to represent one of the three virtues.

It is quite common for not all three to be presented together, but just two in a pair of lancets or opposite each other across a chancel. Faith is often shown alone in protestant churches, and Hope in funeral chapels. But in terms of sheer quantity, the greatest is Love.