Charity

before 1530

Andrea del Sarto

Artist, Florentine, 1486 - 1530

Two nude young boys and a young woman holding a standing infant are tightly grouped around a table, almost filling this vertical painting. They all have pale skin tinged with pink. The woman is shown from the knees up, and she stands at the front, right corner of the table, which spans most of the composition. Facing our left in profile, her auburn-brown hair is pulled back and wrapped with a slate-blue ribbon, and is wound around the crown of her head. She looks down with dark eyes under thin brows. She has a long nose, and her full, dusty rose-pink lips are closed. Two thin cords hang like necklaces just above the neckline of her carnation-pink gown, which is unbuttoned to reveal one bare breast. The plump infant stands at the center of the group. The woman holds him close to her body, but he turns his face away to look at the young boy on our left. That child faces our right in profile and has wavy, copper-red hair. He is nude except for a blue sash, which is tied once tightly around his waist and then wrapped so a loose hoop hangs down over his belly. His right knee, closer to us, rests on an olive-green cloth crumpled on the table beneath him. He leans back slightly, with his belly pushed forward, and looks down at the infant while pointing to us with his closest hand. A third child, with unruly honey-blond hair, stands facing us from the back of the group, so is seen between the woman and the pointing child. The child at the back of the group touches the woman’s shoulder with one hand, looking straight at us with mouth slightly open. A burgundy-red sash is visible around the waist. Near the bottom edge of the painting, the tabletop is covered with a pumpkin-orange cloth striped with plum-purple and black. A book rests near the baby’s feet and is partially covered by the green cloth to our left. A peacock-blue cloth is bunched on the right half of the table and hangs off that side, obscuring the woman’s knees. The background is painted with broad strokes and swirls of brown and flint blue, with flickers of red and gold in the upper right.

Media Options

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The theological virtue of Charity is traditionally represented by a woman with several small children, one of whom she is shown nursing. Here, those figures appear hard and solid amidst a smoky, undefined setting. Sharp colors, like the pink and turquoise of the garments or the burnt orange and purple stripes of the tablecloth, heighten this contrast of tangible form and indeterminate space. It is, above all, in the ideal grace of slowly revolving poses that the real expressive force of the picture is conveyed.

That the subject is subservient to the style in this painting is underlined by the fact that the panel was first planned as a Holy Family, but with a few changes in details, del Sarto transformed it into a Charity.

Andrea d'Agnolo was called "del Sarto" from his father's trade as a tailor. He had a successful and productive career in Florence and was particularly celebrated for the beauty and originality of his color. Sarto worked briefly at the court of Francis I at Fontainebleau in 1518. This Charity, probably painted shortly before the artist's death, was also commissioned for the French king.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on panel

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 119.5 x 92.5 cm (47 1/16 x 36 7/16 in.)
    framed: 154.3 x 128.9 x 12.1 cm (60 3/4 x 50 3/4 x 4 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1957.14.5

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Commissioned by Giambattista della Palla, agent for the King of France, who was apparently imprisoned before the painting was completed. The widow of Andrea del Sarto [d. 1530]; Domenico Conti, Florence, by 1550;[1] Niccolò Antinori, Florence, by 1550 until at least 1568. Bastiano Antinori, Florence, by 1584.[2] Pallavicini-Rospigliosi collection, Rome, by 1826-1827, when it was sold by Countess Camilla Compagnoni-Marefoschi [1782-1862] to John Proctor Anderdon, London and Farley Hall, Berkshire, England;[3] (Anderdon sale, Christie's, London, 15 May 1847, no. 34, bought in); (Anderdon sale, Christie's, London, 24 May 1851, no. 66, bought in). (Anonymous sale, London, 1856, bought in). Possibly P. Hinds, in 1859. (Anonymous sale, London, 1860); possibly purchased by Ripp.[4] Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro of Novar [d. 1865], London and Novar, Highland, Scotland; (Munro sale, Christie's, London, 1 June 1878, no. 101); purchased by Permain. Presumably Thomas Humphrey Ward [1845-1926], Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England; (David M. Koetser Gallery, New York, London, and Zurich); sold 1954 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[5] gift 1957 to NGA.
[1] According to G. Vasari, Le Vite, Milan, 1880: 5:50.
[2] According to Raffaelle Borghini, Il Riposo di Raffaelle Borghini, originally published 1584, reprint Milan, 1807: 2:226
[3] According to the exhibition catalogue Fine Arts in the United Kingdom (British Institution, London, 1828:13, no. 29), the work came “from the Ruspogliosi [sic] Gallery in Rome,” a reference to the collection of the Pallavicini-Rospigliosi family. An article on the Anderdon collection in the Art Union (vol. 8, December 1846, p. 328) mentions that Anderdon purchased the work from the Rospigliosi palace on a trip to Rome in 1827. Christie’s catalogues of 1847 and 1851, however, put the purchase date at 1826. Both state that it came from the Rospigliosi palace and indicate that Anderdon acquired it from the countess, who was the eldest daughter of Prince Luigi Pallavicini [1756-1835] and probably acted as the agent for selling the painting from the family collection. Copies of article and sales catalogues in curatorial files.
[4] On the preceding two sales, see G. Redford, Art Sales, London, 1888: 2:251 and A. Graves, Art Sales From Early in the Eighteenth Century to Early in the Twentieth Century, London, 1921: 3:140.
[5] According to W.E. Suida and F.R. Shapley, Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection, Washington, 1956: 22. See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/478.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1828

  • British Institution, London, 1828, no. 29

2015

  • Andrea del Sarto's Borgherini Holy Family, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2015-2016, no catalogue.

2022

  • Wealth and Beauty: Pier Francesco Foschi and Painting in Florence, Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, 2022, no. 9, repro.

Bibliography

1807

  • Borghini, Raffaello. Il Riposo. 3 vols. Milan, 1807:226

1846

  • Art Union 8 (December 1846):328

1878

  • Vasari, Giorgio. Le vite dei più eccellenti pittori, scultori ed architettori. Ed. Gaetano Milanesi. 9 vols. Florence, 1878-1885: 5(1880):50-52.

1888

  • Redford, George. Art Sales. 2 vols. London, 1888:251

1913

  • Graves, Algernon. A Century of Loan Exhibitions, 1813-1912. 5 vols. London, 1913-1915: 3(1914):1196.

1921

  • Graves, Algernon. Art Sales from Early in the Eighteenth Century to Early in the Twentieth Century (mostly Old Master and Early English Pictures). 3 vols. London, 1918–1921: 3(1921):140.

1956

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1951-56. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida and Fern Rusk Shapley. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1956: 22, no. 2, repro.

1957

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 52.

1959

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 107, repro.

1963

  • Freedberg, Sidney J. Andrea del Sarto, Catalouge Raisonné. 2 vols. Cambridge, 1963: 1:84-85, figs. 197-198. 2:154, 165-166, cat. 73.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 306, repro.

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Florentine School. 2 vols. London, 1963: 1:10.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 8.

  • Shearman, John K. Andrea del Sarto. 2 vols. Oxford, 1965: 1:109, 127, 147, pl. 164b. 2:277, 278, cat. 91.

  • Monti, Raffaele. Andrea del Sarto. Milan, 1965: 110, 178, cat. 177, fig. 272.

1966

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:134, color repro.

1968

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XV-XVI Century. London, 1968: 128-129, fig. 314.

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 1, repro.

1971

  • Zeri, Federico, with Elizabeth Gardner. Italian Paintings. A Catalogue of the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Florentine School. New York, 1971: 220.

1972

  • Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972: 8, 647.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 12, repro.

1979

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:5-7; 2:pl. 5.

  • Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 37-38, pl. 21.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 172, no. 193, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 366, repro.

1986

  • Andrea del Sarto 1486-1530. Dipinti e disegni a Firenze. Exh. cat. Palazzo Pitti, Florence, 1986: 298, 313.

  • Cordellier, Dominique. Hommage à Andrea del Sarto. Exh. cat. Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1986: 43.

1988

  • Natali, Antonio. Andrea del Sarto: Maestro della “maniera moderna”. Milan, 1988: 173, 178, figs. 175, 176.

1989

  • Natali, Antonio, and Alessandro Cecchi. Andrea del Sarto, Catalogo completo dei dipinti. Florence, 1989: 139, cat. 69.

1992

  • National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 97, repro.

1994

  • Costamagna, Philippe. Pontormo. Milan, 1994: 81, 206.

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 94-95, no. 70, color repro.

2009

  • Delieuvin, Vincent. “Andrea del Sartos Gemälde für den französischen Hof.” In Cornelia Syre, Jan Schmidt and Heike Stege, eds. Göttlich gemalt Andrea del Sarto. Die Heilige Familie in Paris un München. Exh. cat. Alte Pinakothek, Munich, 2009: 71, fig. 39.

  • Lüdemann, Peter. “ ‘Les desseins […] sont fiers et d’un grand goût.’ Die Zeichnungen Andrea del Sartos zwischen Werkstattpraxis und künstlerischer inventio.” In Cornelia Syre, Jan Schmidt and Heike Stege, eds. Göttlich gemalt Andrea del Sarto. Die Heilige Familie in Paris un München. Exh. cat. Alte Pinakothek, Munich, 2009: 108.

2015

  • Brooks, Julian, with Denise Allen and Xavier F. Salomon. Andrea del Sarto: The Renaissance Workshop in Action. Exh. cat. Frick Collection, New York, 2015: 137, 139, fig. 40.3.

  • Szafaran, Yvonne, and Sue Ann Chui. “A Perfectionist Revealed: The Resourceful Method of Andrea del Sarto.” In Julian Brooks with Denise Allen and Xavier F. Salomon. Andrea del Sarto: The Renaissance Workshop in Action. Exh. cat. Frick Collection, New York, 2015: 14-15, fig. 6.

  • Malanima, Giovanna, ed. L’eredità di Andrea del Sarto “Inventario delle robe”. Florence, 2015: 30, fig. 15.

2017

  • Bayer, Andrea, and Michael Gallagher, with Silvia A. Centeno, John Delaney, and Evan Rea. “Andrea del Sarto’s Borgherini Holy Family and Charity: Two Intertwined Late Works.” Metropolitan Museum Journal 52 (2017): 34-55, figs. 2, 5, 6, 9, 12, 16, 26.

Wikidata ID

Q20175980

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