WTEWAEL, Joachim
(b. 1566, Utrecht, d. 1638, Utrecht)

Charity

c. 1620
Oil on panel, 37 x 28 cm
Private collection

In this painting Charity (Caritas) is personified by the young woman in the centre of the painting, who sits breastfeeding the child in her lap. Wtewael turned to the theme of Charity throughout his career, with two further examples dating from 1623, and one from c. 1627.

It has been suggested that the source for the composition of the figure of Charity is most likely Federico Barocci's La Madonna del Gatto. Barocci's work was engraved in 1577 by Cornelis Cort, and so the composition would surely have been known to Wtewael.