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Woman and three babies standing on man with bag of coins

A woman in draped robes is surrounded by three babies. One nurses at her breast, one climbs up her right side, and one stands at her left grasping at her robe. The woman smiles, gazing down at the children. Her hair is partially tied up and partially draped over her back. The woman and children stand on the back of an old, bearded man who bites his left hand, leaning on his left elbow. His right arm is bent back over a bag full of coins. This statue is a glossy, metallic dark brown.

Gallery Text

Giuseppe Mazzuoli's allegorical figure of Charity is personified as a mother with three children. As the greatest of all theological virtues, Charity triumphs over the vice of Avarice, represented as a greedy man biting his left hand and clutching a bag of coins with the other. This sculptural group recalls the influence of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who Mazzuoli often assisted with large public commissions. Among these was the tomb for Pope Alexander VII (1672-78) in Saint Peter's Basilica, for which Mazzuoli sculpted a more than life-sized figure of Charity in marble. This earlier work is recalled here in Mazzuoli's voluptuous bronze figure. The dynamic drapery, multifigured composition, and spiraling movement of the group also point to Mazzuoli's indebtedness to Bernini.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2003.277
People
Giuseppe Mazzuoli, Italian (1644-1725)
Title
Charity Treading on Avarice
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
c. 1715
Culture
Italian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/54426

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Technique
Cast
Dimensions
39.3 x 17 x 19.5 cm (15 1/2 x 6 11/16 x 7 11/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Eugene Glaenzer & Co., New York, NY], sold; to Watson B. Dickerman, New York, NY (1910), by descent; to Dickerman family (1923) (1); to Watson B. Dickerman, Scottsdale, Arizona, gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2003.

Notes:
1. The sculpture may have passed from Watson B. Dickerman’s father to his mother, Florence E. Dickerman, who died in 1963.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Mr. Watson B. Dickerman, Class of 1969, in memory of Sydney J. Freedberg
Accession Year
2003
Object Number
2003.277
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2210 West Arcade, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/14/2015 - 10/03/2022

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu