Charity
Artist: Guido Reni (Italian, 1575–1642)
Original Dimensions: 54" x 41 3/4"
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
About Artwork: (not listed) "This allegorical figure of Charity follows a well-established iconographic model of a woman breastfeeding a group of children, here gracefully deployed through the rhythm of limbs and docile gazes. The sleeping figure, identical to one used in a fresco by Reni for the Barberini family in 1629, asserts an atmosphere of trust and innocence. Reni commanded the highest prices and greatest admiration among his contemporaries for such idealized faces, placid compositions, and jewellike tones. Evidence of Reni’s international celebrity, this painting was likely commissioned or bought by Prince Karl Eusebius of Liechtenstein on his trip to Italy in 1629–30." - (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

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