Allegory of Charity

This painting depicts a common subject in seventeenth-century painting throughout Europe. Its meaning would have been interpreted in both a religious and secular way. Blanchard specialized in painting such subjects as Charity, of which many different versions exist, all showing the particular type of rather delicate sentiment which appears in almost all his works. In this painting the influence of Veronese is visible not only in the light and colour, but also in the architectural background and in the clear building-up of the group.