Charity with Four Children

Sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Charity with Four Children

Artist| Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Year| 1627–1628
Catalogue| 30
Type| Sculpture
Medium| Terracotta
Subject| Charity
Dimensions| 39 cm (15 in)
Location| Vatican Museums, Vatican City
Coordinates| 41°54′23″N 12°27′16″E﻿ / ﻿41.90639°N 12.45444°E﻿ / 41.90639; 12.45444
Preceded by| Statue of Carlo Barberini
Followed by| Two Busts of Cardinal Scipione Borghese

Charity with Four Children also called Charity With Four Putti[Schuder] is a sculpture by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Executed between 1627 and 1628, the work is housed in the Vatican Museums in Vatican City. The small terracotta sculpture represents Charity breast-feeding a child, with three other children playing. The work includes an imprint of Bernini's thumbprint in the clay.

## Background

[edit]

The sculpture is an allegorical group, and was created as a model for the tomb of Pope Urban VIII.[1] It is sixteen inches high, is made from terracotta clay, and represents Charity breast-feeding a child, with three other children playing. Its creation date is uncertain: Raggio dates the sculpture’s execution to between 1627 and 1628, although others have suggested it may have been created closer to 1630,[2][3] or not later than 1634.[4][5]

There is an imprint of Bernini's thumbprint in the clay.[6][7][3]

## History

[edit]

The work is housed in the Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana in the Vatican Museums in Vatican City.[1]

It was included in the touring exhibition Saint Peter and the Vatican: The Legacy of the Popes, which opened in Fort Lauderdale in August 2003.[3] One reviewer called it “The most artistically rewarding work in the show...this delicate sculpture of a mother and infant is alive with movement and human feeling. It possesses an intimacy that comes from the actual touch of Bernini's hand; on the back, you can see the indentations his fingers made in the clay.”[3]

Tomb of Pope Urban VIII, with the final form of Charity on the left

In 2012 the sculpture featured in Bernini: Sculpting in Clay at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. It was the earliest work included in the show.[1]

## See also

[edit]

* List of works by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Gibson, Eric (Dec 2012). "Bernini's feats of clay". The New Criterion. 31 (4): 1–4.
2. ^ Dickerson, III, Claude Douglas. Bernini and Before: Modeled Sculpture in Rome, ca. 1600-25 (Phd thesis). Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. "Raggio (1983) has argued that it dates from 1627-28, when Bernini was first engaged on his tomb of Urban VIII. But with the actual carving of the figure not being undertaken until 1634, it seems possible that the first model for this figure may not have come until the early 1630s."
3. ^ a b c d Schudel, Matt (2003-08-24). "The Look of Faith: The Splendid 'Saint Peter and the Vatican' reveals the 2,000 year-old artistic heritage of the Catholic Church in all its majesty and glory". South Florida Sun - Sentinel. Retrieved 3 April 2025 - via ProQuest.
4. ^ "Working models - ProQuest". www.proquest.com. Retrieved 2025-04-03.
5. ^ Cole, Michael (2013). "Working models". Apollo. 177: 77–79 - via ProQuest.
6. ^ Wittkower, Rudolf (1997) [1955]. Gian Lorenzo Bernini: The Sculptor of the Roman Baroque. London: Phaidon Press. pp. 252–253\. ISBN 9780714837154.
7. ^ "Bernini's fingerprint: the unique signature of the artist, vatican museum tour". Essence of Rome. 2022-05-30. Retrieved 2025-04-03.

## References

[edit]

* Avery, Charles (1997). Bernini: Genius of the Baroque. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 9780500286333.
* Baldinucci, Filippo (2006) [1682]. The Life of Bernini. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 9780271730769.
* Bernini, Domenico (2011) [1713]. The Life of Giano Lorenzo Bernini. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 9780271037486.
* Mormando, Franco (2011). Bernini: His Life and His Rome. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226538525.

## External links

[edit]

* Web Gallery of Art
* Media related to Charity with Four Children at Wikimedia Commons

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Gian Lorenzo Bernini

List of works

Sculpture|

| 1610s|

* The Goat Amalthea with the Infant Jupiter and a Faun
* Bust of Giovanni Battista Santoni
* A Faun Teased by Children
* Boy with a Dragon
* The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence
* Saint Sebastian
* Bust of Pope Paul V
* Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius
* Bust of Giovanni Vigevano
* Damned Soul
* Blessed Soul
* Bust of Camilla Barbadoni

|

1620s|

* Bust of Carlo Antonio del Pozzo
* Neptune and Triton
* The Rape of Proserpina
* Apollo and Daphne
* Bust of Pope Gregory XV
* St. Peter's Baldachin
* Charity with Four Children
* David
* Bust of Alessandro Peretti di Montalto
* Saint Bibiana
* Busts of Pope Urban VIII
* Bust of Monsignor Pedro de Foix Montoya
* Bust of Cardinal Roberto Bellarmine
* Bust of Cardinal Giovanni Dolfin
* Bust of Cardinal Escoubleau de Sourdis
* Bust of Antonio Cepparelli
* Bust of Cardinal Melchior Klesl
* Two Angels in Sant'Agostino
* Bust of Francesco Barberini
* Bust of Antonio Barberini
* Busts of Cardinals Agostino and Pietro Valier
* Memorial to Carlo Barberini
* Tomb of Pope Urban VIII
* Saint Longinus
* Sleeping Hermaphroditus (mattress)

1630s|

* Statue of Carlo Barberini
* Two Busts of Cardinal Scipione Borghese
* Tomb of Countess Matilda of Tuscany
* Pasce Oves Meas
* Bust of Costanza Bonarelli
* Busts of Paolo Giordano and Isabella Orsini
* Statue of Pope Urban VIII
* Bust of King Charles I
* Bust of Thomas Baker
* Medusa

1640s|

* Bust of Cardinal Richilieu
* Memorial to Alessandro Valtrini
* Memorial to Ippolito Merenda
* Memorial to Maria Raggi
* Confessio of Santa Francesca Romana
* Raimondi Chapel
* Truth Unveiled by Time
* Bust of Pope Leo X
* Ecstasy of Saint Teresa
* Noli Me Tangere

1650s|

* Busts of Pope Innocent X
* Bust of Francesco I d'Este
* Corpus
* The Vision of Constantine
* Daniel and the Lion
* Habakkuk and the Angel
* Chair of Saint Peter
* Saints Jerome and Mary Magdalen

1660s|

* Statue of Alexander VII
* Busts of Alexander VII
* Statue of King Philip IV of Spain
* Elephant and Obelisk
* Angel with the Crown of Thorns
* Angel with the Superscription
* Bust of Gabriele Fonseca
* Bust of Louis XIV
* Equestrian Statue of King Louis XIV

1670s|

* Blessed Ludovica Albertoni
* Tomb of Pope Alexander VII
* Statue of Pope Clement X
* Bust of the Saviour

Architecture
and fountains|

* St. Peter's Square
* Sant'Andrea al Quirinale
* Lateran Baptistery
* Palazzo Barberini
* Palazzo di Propaganda Fide
* Santa Bibiana
* Fountains of St. Peter's Square
* Fontana della Barcaccia
* Fontana del Tritone
* Fontana delle Api
* Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi
* Fontana del Moro

Paintings|

* Self-Portrait as a Young Man
* Portrait of Pope Urban VIII
* Saint Andrew and Saint Thomas
* Self-Portrait as a Mature Man
* Portrait of a Boy
* Christ Mocked

Related|

* Domenico Bernini (son)
* Pietro Bernini (father)
* Luigi Bernini (brother)

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