St Elizabeth Distributing Alms

This lively small picture was a sketch for the altarpiece of the castle chapel of the Teutonic Knights at Mergentheim, commissioned by Clement August, Elector of Cologne, in 1734. The innumerable versions and copies in existence (Augsburg, City Museum; Bremen, Kunsthalle; Munich, Salzburg, private collections, etc.) indicate that Pittoni’s composition was extremely popular and imitated by many German and Austrian painters. From the loose semi-circle of kneeling, sitting and recumbent paupers the white-robed figure of the princess stands out triumphantly, her outstretched arms bringing the groups of starving men and women into a close circle. The gestures are graceful and dainty, the proportions elongated, the colouring dominated by the pale blues and lemon-yellows favoured by Pittoni.