Lot Essay
A copy of the present lot was offered at Sotheby's, Monaco, June 20, 1987, lot 360, (wrongly as by Jan van Bijlert and incorrectly as La Charité Romaine). Paul Huys Janssen will include the present work in his forthcoming monograph on Jan van Bijlert.
The caravaggist van Bijlert often painted half-length figures and executed several images in this format of the Madonna and Child. The design of the present painting resembles (in reverse) that of The Madonna and Child and Infant St. John, with F. Mond, New York, 1971, however the subject in this case is the personification of Charity, the foremost of the three "Theological Virtues"
The caravaggist van Bijlert often painted half-length figures and executed several images in this format of the Madonna and Child. The design of the present painting resembles (in reverse) that of The Madonna and Child and Infant St. John, with F. Mond, New York, 1971, however the subject in this case is the personification of Charity, the foremost of the three "Theological Virtues"