Artwork Page for Charity

Details / Information for Charity

Charity

c. 1590

Abraham Bloemaert

(Dutch, 1566–1651)
Culture
Netherlands, late 16th Century
Medium
oil on wood
Measurements
Framed: 87 x 100 x 10.2 cm (34 1/4 x 39 3/8 x 4 in.); Unframed: 68.6 x 54.5 cm (27 x 21 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1994.10
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
213 Dutch Painting
Print
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Did You Know?

Charity is almost always personified as a woman with children.

Description

Abraham Bloemaert drew on traditional depictions of the Virgin and Child for this allegorical image of Charity: a woman surrounded by children, one an infant for whom she has bared her breast. Bloemaert was one of the leading proponents of the Mannerist style in the Northern Netherlands. Characteristics of that style include exaggerated figural proportions, contorted poses, heightened colors, densely packed compositions, and a deliberate eroticism—invoked here to emphasize the magnetic quality of Charity’s serene beauty.
A vertically oriented oil painting depicts a light-skinned woman surrounded by three children against a dark background. She looks down with lowered eyelids, holding a child with braided red hair who gazes back at her. To the left, a child smiles and points, while another at the upper right points away. Dramatic light illuminates their pale skin, pink garments, and the woman's blue headpiece. Expressive, elongated hands define the crowded and intimate composition.

Charity

c. 1590

Abraham Bloemaert

(Dutch, 1566–1651)
Netherlands, late 16th Century

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