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Description: | Signed: yes Description: Traditionally, Charity was represented as a mother and children but here Bouguereau gives the theme a new twist as the mother and children are, themselves, in need of charity. A destitute family of a barefoot mother and her three young children sit huddled on the lower steps of a grand, classical style church (the Church of the Madeleine, Paris). The symmetry of the pyramidal composition and low viewpoint lend the group a sense of monumentality. The mother's sorrowful gaze toward the viewer is reminiscent of a Madonna and further suggests the idea of a secular altarpiece in which the group of figures take on an allegorical dimension. In the top right hand corner, a poster containing an extract from a sermon on charity by the radical priest Father Lacordaire reiterates Bouguereau's intended meaning. A preliminary drawing for Charity shows a line of Parisian rooftops in the left background. However, the finished painting shows the Campidoglio Palace in Rome, aligning this work with the contemporary vogue for Italian beggar subjects and diminishing the element of social critique for its Parisian audience. | Subjects: | everyday life (beggary); allegory (charity) | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: Bouguereau, William-Adolphe (French painter and draftsman, 1825-1905) Æ | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=9176... | Go to resource |
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