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Lot Essay
The present composition derives from an engraving entitled Caritas, which was part of the series of 'Seven Virtues', edited by Hieronymous Cock. The engraving is in reverse of the drawing of 1559 by Pieter I in the Boymans-van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam. There are eight recorded versions of the composition by Pieter II, including those in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, and the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon.
The seven corporal acts of mercy depicted are: feeding the hungry (left foreground); clothing the naked (right foreground); relieving the thirsty (left middle ground); visiting the imprisoned (left background); burying the dead (centre background); giving shelter to the homeless (centre middle ground); and caring for the sick (right middle ground). These derived from Matthew, 25; 35-6: 'For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.'
The seven corporal acts of mercy depicted are: feeding the hungry (left foreground); clothing the naked (right foreground); relieving the thirsty (left middle ground); visiting the imprisoned (left background); burying the dead (centre background); giving shelter to the homeless (centre middle ground); and caring for the sick (right middle ground). These derived from Matthew, 25; 35-6: 'For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.'