Italian school of the first half of the 17th century.
"Allegory of Charity".
Oil on canvas.
It presents restorations and faults on the pictorial surface.
Measurements: 118 x 74 cm.
Allegory image in which the author recreates a dark interior artificially illuminated. The scene is represented by a woman who holds a child with one of her arms and picks up another older infant next to her waist. The image is completed by a third young boy who is unnoticed due to the lighting.
The theme of the Caritas is based on a tale from antiquity narrated by the Roman historian Valerius Maximus (1st century BC - 1st century AD) in his "Memorable Deeds and Sayings" and featuring Pero, a woman who secretly breastfeeds her elderly and imprisoned father, Cimon, who is sentenced to death by starvation. When they are discovered, the great act of charity makes such an impression on the judges that they decide to release the prisoner. It is therefore an "exemplum" on "pietas" (filial piety), a story with a moralising function, often introduced in the Middle Ages into the structure of the vulgar sermon. In ancient Rome, the theme was depicted in a painting in the temple of Pietas. In fact, it was a very popular subject among the Romans, since it was related to the myth of Etruscan origin according to which Juno suckled Hercules. Pliny the Elder (23-79) related a similar story of a woman suckled by her daughter while in prison.