Charity

This is a reduced replica of a marble group carved in 1877 to stand over a drinking fountain in Exchange Avenue at the back of the Royal Exchange in London. The marble which had been destroyed by weathering was replaced by the present inferior copy in bronze in 1897. The composition developed from a group of the Madonna and Child with the infant St. John which Dalou later destroyed.

This is one of many variations and versions of this composition, all of which were carried out by Aimé-Jules Dalou in around 1877/8.

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Dalou (1838-1902) was the son of a glove maker and initially trained in drawing at the Petit École in Paris. There he was encouraged to do sculpture. In 1854 he entered the École des Beaux-Arts, where he trained for four years. He was known for his left-wing political sympathies and was involved in the establishment of the Paris Commune in 1871. After his overthrow he was forced into exile in London, where he lived from 1871 until his return to Paris in 1879. In London he frequently exhibited at the Royal Academy and he was given a teaching appointment at the National Art Training School in South Kensington (later the Royal College of Art), where he had a profound effect on the development of British sculpture.