Charity

Abraham Bloemaert’s “Charity” depicts a story known as Roman Charity. A daughter secretly breastfeeds her imprisoned father to keep him alive. Oil on wood, c. 1590.

The painting is housed at the Cleveland Museum of Art. It represents a theme that was popular in the Baroque period, showing the virtue of filial piety.

Bloemaert was a Dutch painter and printmaker who initially worked in the Haarlem Mannerist style before moving towards Baroque. He taught many artists in Utrecht.

Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio https://clevelandart.org/art/1994.10