Paintings
Charity
Permanent ExhibitionPaintingMythology & Allegory
Details
- Author / creator
- Abraham Bloemaert (Dutch, 1566–1651)
- Object type
- Painting
- Date or period
- c. 1590
- Dimensions summary
- Framed: 87 × 100 × 10.2 cm; Unframed: 68.6 × 54.5 cm
- Support
- Panel
- Paint medium
- Oil
- Place of origin
- Netherlands
- Acquisition method
- Purchase
- Credit line
- Purchased with the National Heritage Memorial Fund, 1994
About this object
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.
Materials and technique
Oil on wood
