Description:Taken from Bruegel’s series of “The World of Seven Virtues,” Charity is personified as the ultimate compassionate giver, who is surrounded by acts of charity and supreme examples of kindness. There are various vignettes of charitable interactions throughout the composition, making this piece full of energy, movement, and love.
According to H. Arthur Klein:
“The allegorical figure of Charity here is a woman whose face bespeaks kindness and consideration. The warm humanity in her expression comes through even more effectively in the original drawing. She holds in her hand a heart aflame (a contrast to the allegorical figure for the sin of Envy who eats her heart out) ” (p. 124) .
Created c. 1559, Charity was engraved by Philips Galle, based on an original drawing by Pieter Bruegel featuring the following inscription in the lower margin: SPERES TIBI ACCIDERE QVOD ALTERI ACCIDIT, ITA DEMVM EXCITABERIS AD OPEM FERENDAM / SI SVMPSERIS EIVS ANIMV QVI OPEM TVNC IN MALIS CONSTITVTVS IMPLORAT (Expect what happens to others to happen to you; you will then and not till then be aroused to offer help only if you make your own the feelings of the man who appeals for help in the midst of adversity) . The signature of Bruegel is inscribed in cartouche in the lower right: ‘BRVEGEL. 1559’ With ‘H. cock excude.’ in cartouche in the lower left. The latin, CHARITAS (Charity) is also inscribed in cartouche in the lower center.
Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
It is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work) :
1. Bastelaer, René van. The Prints of Peter Bruegel the Elder, Catalogue Raisonné New Edition, Alan Wofsy Fine Arts: San Francisco, 1992. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 134 on pgs. 178-9.
2. Klein, H. Arthur. Graphic Worlds of Peter Bruegel the Elder, Dover Publications: New York, 1963. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 50 on pgs. 124-5.
3. Orenstein, Nadine M., ed. for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints, Yale University Press: New Haven, 2001. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné nos. 66-7 on pgs. 180-1.
4. Sellink, M. Pieter Bruegel: The Complete Paintings, Drawings and Prints. Ludion: NY, 2007. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 89 on pg. 147. Detail on preparatory drawing for Charity is listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 82 on pg. 140.
About the Framing:
Set in a Spanish style bronze and gold frame, the ribbon detailing of the moulding compliments the meandering curved shapes within the image. Decorative detail echo acanthus leaves which evoke a classical aura to the work. Completed with white, linen-wrapped mats with a matching gold inner fillet, Charity is set behind an archival Plexiglas® cover.
