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Form does not suggest a very precise image to mind and the none of the usage of this word particularly applies to that of art. According to Etienne Gilson (1966), form is something that totally occupies definite space. It defines objects in space and simply cannot exist without space (Jirousek, 1995). One can broaden their perception of the concept of form by defining it as “the arrangement which makes the parts of a whole out of plurality of elements and thereby structures the latter into a distinct object." Form is fitting to each art and the process of receiving it is known as the “understanding” of a work of art (Gilson, 1966).

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Form is fundamental to art because it can determine how the viewer experiences and interprets the artist’s work of art, as well the artist’s perspective or statement.

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Gilson (1966) defined picture or painting as

“a solid surface which the artist covers with colored forms whose arrangement is pleasing to the eye though the unity of the form, the harmony of the parts and the perfection of the execution.”

For this reason, a painting produces material objects that are located in space like that of sculpture. However, what distinguishes painting from sculpture is that painting is concerned only with their surface or what they are painting on, not the actual canvas the painter is doing this on. Paintings are two-dimensional solids unlike sculptures. Nonetheless, both painting and sculpture are both immovable (Gilson, 1966).

Painting is abstract by nature because it disassociates one of the dimensions of our space. Furthermore, painting, like sculpture, has always been representational. It was born of imitation, but it is more obvious and such imitations of objects are naturally capable of stirring human emotions and of being pleasing (Gilson, 1966).

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Form can be categorized in various ways: either as two-dimensional or three-dimensional. Two-dimensional form has width and height. On the other hand, three-dimensional shape has width, height, and depth. To further elaborate, two-dimensional form is the foundation of composition in painting and is created in a number of ways. It is often defined by line which can be explicit or implied. Line can also provide contour of forms. Value also plays an essential role as it also defines the form of the painting. Strong contrast between highlights and shadows can characterize the boundaries of forms (Jirousek, 1995). Combining two-dimensional form and value can create a three-dimensional form that can change the whole perspective of the viewer.

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Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter and was best known for his depiction of value and for his use for vibrant colors which are mostly ultramarine (Latin word that means “beyond the sea” or most intense of blues), giallolino (Italian word for “yellow orche”, and cinnabar which is  deep red. Most of Vermeer’s work proclaims domesticity – prostitute, a milkmaid, music lessons, men and women at work in their houses, and several exterior scenes of the people and places in Delft where he was born (Miner, 2018).

The “at-home” settings portrayed in most of his paintings (including the Allegory) were one of the two rooms in his mother-in-law’s house. The light which he greatly illustrated in his paintings was best seen in those rooms (Miner, 2018).

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Allegory of the Catholic Faith by Johannes Vermeer

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Allegory of the Catholic Faith by Johannes Vermeer

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Allegory is defined as a story or a picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning that is typically a moral or a political one. Hence, Vermeer’s painting “Allegory of the Catholic Faith”, although it illustrates a figure in a theatrical pose, clutching her hand to her breast, her eyes gazing upwards and her right foot resting on a globe, it also depicts the triumph of the Catholic Church (Bailey, 1995).

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The woman, who is believed to be representing the church itself, is in a dress, sitting on a platform, and her right foot on a terrestrial globe and her right hand on her heart as she looks up, affectionately, at a glass sphere hung from the ceiling by a blue ribbon (Wheelock, 1995). The woman is based on the symbolic representation of Cesare Ripa’s Iconologia wherein faith was described as “a seated lady… her feet resting on Earth.” Many believe that it is Mary Magdalene who is the figure in this work of art and the symbol of faith. She stands between the celestial globe above her head, which is symbolizing the heaven, and a terrestrial globe under her feet, which is symbolizing the earth. The globe that can be seen in the painting is the same one depicted in The Geographer by Hondius. A crucifix, a chalice, and an open bible lie on the altar-like table in the painting. Moreover, the serpent spitting blood onto the floor that is found in the foreground is a symbol of Satan, hell and death. It is trampled by a marble slab which stands for the stone, a stone in which Christ has ordered Peter to build his church. Meanwhile, the painting on the back wall is a simplified version of the Crucifixion by Jacob Jordaens (Bailey, 1995).

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Color can express emotions and it can be used to set figures apart for the viewer to better identify subjects. In "Allegory of the Catholic Faith", Vermeer played with the colors of ultramarine which has been mentioned as the Latin word for “beyond the sea” or most intense of blues. Vermeer, in particular, had a weakness for cool blue hue even though it was considered as one of the most expensive pigments (Art Encyclopedia, n.d). A dash of orange or red is also visible in the painting which created a great contrast that became necessary to better represent the form of the painting.

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Value is necessary in painting not only because it used to create a focal point in the art by lightness and darkness, but also because it creates an illusion of depth which defines the form of the artwork. In this particular work of art, the value is characterized mainly by the shadowing effect caused by the tapestry on the left corner. Through the shadow created by tapestry, one is easily able to identify the foreground from the middle ground and the middle ground from the background. The areas of light and dark also gives a three-dimensional illusion such as that found on the area of the marble floors. Furthermore, the saturation between the painting behind the woman and the rest of "Allegory of the Catholic Faith" shows us that value can help in distinguishing which are the important parts and which are not; the painting behind has less saturation from the rest and its shadow further gives the viewer the illusion of three-dimensional form.

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The foreground, middleground, and the background are determined in this painting by the placement of the objects and/or subjects: the serpent which is placed on the foreground, the lady, the chalice, the crucifix, and the bible which are placed on the middleground, and the painting behind which is placed on the background. The use of space in this work of Vermeer created an illusion of depth which definitely changed the perspective of the viewer. It is also important to note the marble floors because it helped in sustaining the the illusion of depth of the painting by occupying different spaces with different sizes of the same shape.