Charity, plate 38 from Genii and Virtues (c. 1465): Artwork and History

Charity, plate 38 from Genii and Virtues (c. 1465) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Master of the E-Series Tarocchi Italian, active c. 1465.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

Part of the thematic tarocchi group Geniuses and Virtues, this engraving depicts Charity as encompassing both the love of God (caritas Dei) and the love of one’s neighbor (caritas proximi). Her right hand shakes coins from an open purse, symbolizing the distribution of alms, while her left hand opens her cloak to reveal her flaming heart, an icon that has been used since the 14th century to signify God’s passion. The pelican at the lower left is also a representation of Charity, as it opens its breast with its beak in order to feed its young with its own blood.

Object facts

• Title: Charity, plate 38 from Genii and Virtues
• Date: c. 1465
• Artist attribution: Master of the E-Series Tarocchi Italian, active c. 1465
• Place of origin: Italy
• Medium: Engraving on paper
• Dimensions: Image: 17.7 × 9.6 cm (7 × 3 13/16 in.); Plate: 17.9 × 10.1 cm (7 1/16 × 4 in.); Sheet: 18.6 × 10.5 cm (7 3/8 × 4 3/16 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1924.39.29

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Potter Palmer, Jr.

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.