Allegory of Charity

Artist Jacques Blanchard (French, 1600-1638)

Dateabout 1637

DimensionsH: 42 1/2 in. (108 cm); W: 54 1/2 in. (138.4 cm)

MediumOil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1975.9

Not on View

Label TextIn the 17th century, the common way to represent the concept of Charity—the foremost of the Christian virtues Faith, Hope, and Charity—was as a nursing mother with children. Jacques Blanchard painted allegorical representations of Charity several times in the years 1635–37, probably referring to the humanitarian efforts of the French priest (later saint) Vincent de Paul (1580–1660) to shelter Paris orphans. Jacques Blanchard enlivens the subject with a stage-like setting and the charming interaction between the little girl reaching for the toy top and the boy holding it out of her reach. Crumbling architecture symbolized the fall of the pagan world, opening the way to Christianity. The stone relief of Roman soldiers at the left contrasts with the theme of Charity, a principal benefit of peace.Published ReferencesJacques, D., A Visit to Goodwood near Chichester, The Seat of His Grace the Duke of Richmond, Chichester, 1822, p. 38 (as La Hire).

Mason, W., Goodwood, its House, Park and Grounds, with a Catalogue Raisonné of the Pictures, London, 1839, p. 21, (as La Hire).

Merson, O., La peinture française au XVIIe siècle et XVIIIe, Paris, 1900, pl. 21, fig. 5 (as Blanchard, repr. of engraving captioned as in Louvre).

Blunt, A., Art and Architecture in France, 1500-1700, Harmondsworth, 1953, 2nd ed., 1970, p. 151, pl. 112B (as Blanchard).

Sterling, C., "Les peintures Jean et Jacques Blanchard," Art de France, I, 1961, no. 58, p. 113, repr. p. 112.

Châtelet, A., and J. Thuillier, French Painting from Fouquet to Poussin, Geneva, 1963, p. 206, repr. p. 205.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, pp. 23-24, pl. 182.

"La Chronique des Arts," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 87, no. 1286, March 1976, repr. p. 41.

"Treasures for Toledo," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 19, nos. 2 & 3, 1976, p. 60, repr.

The Toledo Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collections, Toledo, 1976, repr. p. 64.

Rosenberg, P., "Quelques nouveaux Blanchard," Etudes d'art français offertes a Charles Sterling, Paris, 1975, p. 223, no. 58.

Thuillier, J., "Documents sur Jacques Blanchard," Bulletin de la Societe de l'art français 1976, 1978, p. 87, n. 1 and 2.

Thuillier, J. and Mignot, C., "Collectionneurs et peintres au XVIIe: Pointel et Poussin," Revue de l'art, no. 39, 1978, p. 47.

Rosenberg, Pierre, "A golden century in French painting," Connaissance des Arts, no. 25, Feb. 1982, p. 70, repr. (col.).

From Claude to Géricault: the arts in France 1630-1830, London, Agnew, 1886, p. 7.

Hackenbroch, Yvonne, Smalti e gioielli dal XV al XIX, secolo, Florence, 1986, p. 79, repr.

Wine, Humphrey and Olaf Koester, Fransk Guldaler...Poussin and Claude and French painting of the seventeenth century, Copenhagen, 1992, p. 42, (in Danish), 52 (in English), fig. 10, p. 45.

Baron, Armelle, "Quelques étapes dans la carrière de Jacques Blanchard," Dossier de l'Art, no. 465, Mar. 1998, p. 72, repr. (col.).

Brême, Dominique, "Jacques Blanchard, ou le retour en grâce," L'Estamplle/L'Objet d'Art, no. 322, Mar. 1998, p. 47, repr. p. 39-40 (col. & col. det.).

"Expositions: Rennes," Revue du Louvre, vol. 48, no. 1, Feb. 1998, repr. p. 117 (col.).

Beresford, Richard, "Jacques Blanchard, 1600-1638," [review] Burlington, vol. 141, no. 1155, June 1999, p. 358, fig. 47.

Blunt, Anthony, Art and architecture in France, 1500-1700, 5th ed., New Haven, 1999, p. 160, fig. 204, p. 161 (col.).

Christiansen, Keith and Judith W. Mann, Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001, p. 212, fig. 84, p. 211.

Rosenberg, Pierre, La peinture française, Paris, Mengés, 2001, v. 1, p. 262.

Wright, Christopher and Andrea Gates, Blanchard, London, Matthieson Fine Art Ltd., 2008, pp. 18, 32, 37-38, n. 28.

Flick, Gert-Rudolf, Masters & Pupils: The Artistic Succession from Perugino to Manet 1480-1880, London, Hogarth Arts, 2008, p. 149, pl. 105, p. 151 (col.).

Exhibition HistoryLondon, Royal Academy, Seventeenth Century Art in Europe, 1938, no. 324 (as La Hire).

Montreal, Museum of Fine Arts, Héritage de France, French Painting, 1610-1760, 1961, no. 30, repr. p. 100 (as La Hire).

Paris, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Chicago Art Institute, La peinture française du XVIIe siècle dans les collections américaines, 1982, no. 5, pp. 224-225, 227, 345, repr. p. 102. (English translation: France in the Golden Age: Seventeenth Century French Paintings in American Collections).

Paris, Galeries nationales d'exposition du Grand Palais, Paris 1982 (Le petit Journal des grandes Expositions), p. 2, repr. (exhibition entry above).

Rennes, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Jacques Blanchard 1600-1638, 1998, no. 80, p. 244, repr. (col.) p. 245, (det. col.) p. 246 and (det. col.) on cover.