{
"data": {
"id": 128951,
"accession_number": "1951.541",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Charity, c. 1550\u20131600. Franco-Flemish, second half 16th century. Alabaster; overall: 29.9 x 14 x 14 cm (11 3/4 x 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Baroness R. de Kerchove, 1951.541",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Charity",
"creation_date": "c. 1550\u20131600",
"creation_date_earliest": 1540,
"creation_date_latest": 1610,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Franco-Flemish, second half 16th century"
],
"technique": "alabaster",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "European Painting and Sculpture",
"collection": "Sculpture",
"type": "Sculpture",
"measurements": "Overall: 29.9 x 14 x 14 cm (11 3/4 x 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"overall": {
"height": 0.299,
"height_inch": 11,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.75,
"width": 0.14,
"width_inch": 5,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.5,
"depth": 0.14,
"depth_inch": 5,
"depth_inch_fraction": 0.5
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 300857,
"title": "Art: The International Language",
"description": "Art: The International Language. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 2-November 4, 1956).",
"opening_date": "1956-10-02T04:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": [
{
"description": "New York, 1921-1922. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Dreicer Collection, temporarily exhibited in the Room of Recent Acquisitions, later moved to Sculpture (Floor 1, Room 6), 1922-1933.",
"opening_date": "1921-01-01T00:00:00"
}
]
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "Michael Dreicer, 1868-1921 (New York, New York), upon his death, held in trust by the estate.",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": null,
"sortorder": null
},
{
"description": "Estate of Michael Dreicer, by bequest to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1921.",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": null,
"sortorder": null
},
{
"description": "Metropolitan Museum of Art, returned to Baroness Rene de Kerchove, by 1933.",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": null,
"sortorder": null
},
{
"description": "Baroness Rene de Kerchove (Mrs. Maisie Dreicer Whyte), widow of Michael Dreicer (New York, New York)",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": null,
"sortorder": null
},
{
"description": ", by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1951.",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": null,
"sortorder": null
}
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"description": "When this alabaster group entered the museum's collection, it was thought to depict the Virgin Mary, Christ, and Saint John the Baptist. It has been identified, however, as a personification of Charity, the most elevated of the three Christian theological virtues. The two other theological virtues are Faith and Hope. Within Christian belief, Charity is also known as a supernatural virtue, where the object of human conduct is the ultimate unification with God through love. Alluding to its eminent position, Charity sits enthroned, with powerful hybrid beasts supporting her chair. The diminutive footstool propping up her left foot may refer to the necessity of humility in one's relationship to God. Also, a child raises a vessel filled with fruits to another suggesting that selflessness and love are attributes of charitable actions.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q79909576"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1951.541-charity"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Milliken, William. \"Alabaster Group Attributed to Germain Pilon.\" The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 40, no. 2 (February 1953): 27-30.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: cover; Mentioned: p. 28",
"url": "https://www.jstor.org/stable/25141855"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 103",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n127"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 103",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n127"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 118",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n138"
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1951.541",
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"creditline": "Gift of Baroness R. de Kerchove",
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"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 128951,
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"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "1951-12-26T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 1540,
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"date_text": "c. 1550\u20131600",
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"alternate_titles": [
"Woman and Two Children",
"Seated Woman with Two Children (Charity?)"
],
"is_highlight": false,
"updated_at": "2026-05-29 06:39:48.017000"
}
}