Faithorne frontispiece - Public domain monumental decor engraving

Frontispiece, 1657, William Faithorne, V&A Museum no. E.949-1960
Techniques -
Engraving, ink on paper
Artist/designer -
William Faithorne,
Richard Royston born 1599 - died 1686 (publisher)
Place -
London, England
Dimensions -
Height 27.6 cm (excluding mount)
Width 19.4 cm (excluding mount)
Object Type -
This print is an engraving. The image is made by cutting lines into the surface of a flat piece of metal, inking the plate and then transferring the ink held in the lines onto a sheet of paper.
People -
This is the title-page to The Great Exemplar - The Life and Death of the Holy Jesus. The author, Jeremy Taylor, was an Anglican bishop. He was distinguished as a preacher and as the author of some of the most noted religious works in English. Taylor was chaplain to Charles I and later to the Royalist army. At one time, owing to his friendship with the Roman Catholic theologian Christopher Davenport, he was suspected of Roman Catholic tendencies, of which he cleared his name in a sermon at Oxford in 1638. After the Civil War he lived quietly in Wales writing devotional books. His period of greatest literary production was between 1646 and 1660.
Subject depicted -

The images on this frontispiece show the Virgin and Child, Purgatory, the Instruments of the Passion, and the four Evangelists. The use of such Roman Catholic imagery was only permissible between the covers of a book. The Greek text at the foot of the page translates as 'Thou wilt honour God perfectly if thou behave thyself so that thy soul may become His Image' (from In Aureum Carmen by Hierocles, quoting from the Pythagoreans).

Purgatory is a concept in Roman Catholicism and some other Christian denominations that refers to a state or place where souls undergo purification after death, in preparation for entering heaven. According to this belief, those who die in a state of grace but with unconfessed or unfulfilled sins must undergo a period of purification in purgatory, during which they are cleansed of their impurities and made ready for the beatific vision of God. The concept of purgatory is based on passages in the Bible and on early Christian teachings and traditions. It is seen as a way of balancing God's mercy with the demands of justice, as those who die with venial (less serious) sins are able to receive divine mercy and enter heaven, while also making satisfaction for their sins and avoiding the punishment they would otherwise face. The concept of purgatory has been a subject of debate and controversy within Christianity, with some denominations rejecting it outright.