CC0 · no rights reserved
Charity
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
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.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineCharity, c. 1590. Abraham Bloemaert (Dutch, 1566–1651). Oil on wood; 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.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1994.10
