Allegory of Charity
- Artist: Jacques Blanchard
- Date: 1637
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Museum: The Courtauld Gallery
- Collection record: The Courtauld Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the Allegory of Charity by Jacques Blanchard, a striking oil on canvas painted in 1637. Two canvases that once made up a single, larger scene were probably sliced up in the 18th century. They were only brought back together two and a half centuries later at The Courtauld, a neat reminder of how art can be lost and then found again.
Blanchard was one of the leading French painters of the 1600s, and he kept returning to the same theme in his work: a tender woman caring for children as a symbol of Charity. You’ll notice his careful use of delicate, almost pastel colours that echo the Venetian palette he absorbed during a trip to Italy. The influence of Rubens is also visible, especially in the soft, sensuous rendering of the figures that he saw in Paris when the Flemish master was there.
The composition is gentle yet powerful. The young woman’s face is open and warm, her gesture directed toward the children with an almost invisible thread of devotion. The background is muted, keeping all the attention on the tender interaction. It’s a perfect example of how 17th‑century French painters blended foreign influences with their own taste to create a universal message about compassion.
See it in person
Allegory of Charity hangs in The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, London. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
