Francesco de MuraItalian, 1696Charity
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Charity” now? Art Institute of Chicago, Gallery 215, Chicago. Yes, on view now. Checked September 29, 2026.
Chicago, United States
Closed· opens at 11:00 AM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
This painting presents an allegory of the virtue of charity through images of maternal love and sacrifice: a mother nurtures several young children and a pelican feeds her young by drawing blood from her own breast. This work was one of a set of allegories of five virtues intended as decorations set above doors in a palace belonging to the king of Savoy, a region in northwest Italy. Francesco de Mura spent most of his career in Naples but also worked for the king of Savoy in the 1740s, producing paintings in a style that combined grand, calm figures with active drapery. Although it is now rectangular, the canvas shows signs of an earlier curved shape appropriate to a Rococo room decoration.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Details
- Accession number
- 1971.429
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — CC0
