Allegory of the Scuola della Carità

Among the sixteen allegories around the central painting on the ceiling of the Sala dell’Albergo are five allegorical figures of the Scoule Grandi of Venice. These and the other allegorical figures of the Cardinal Virtues are portrayed in forced and artificial poses and attitudes of truly Mannerist origin. They were particularly studied by Tintoretto in preliminary drawings.

Portrayed in a complex movement, the allegory of the Scuola della Carità passes rapidly in a tangle of robes between light and shade, taking with her the two infants in an affectionate embrace.