Cookies disclaimer

Our site saves small pieces of text information (cookies) on your device in order to deliver better content and for statistical purposes. You can disable the usage of cookies by changing the settings of your browser. By browsing our website without changing the browser settings you grant us permission to store that information on your device.
I accept I refuse

Vai al contenuto principale Vai al footer

Charity the Educator

Lorenzo Bartolini 1840

The plaster is a study model of a famous sculpture made by Lorenzo Bartolini for the chapel of the Florentine villa of Poggio Imperiale, commissioned by Grand Duke Ferdinand III of Habsburg-Lorraine, a work that was later moved to the Pitti Palace. A sweet-faced young woman holds a sleeping infant on her shoulder, one hand embracing her uncovered breast in an image of great tenderness.

Technical information

Author: Lorenzo Bartolini
Title: Charity the Educator
Date: 1840
Material and technique: Plaster
Size: 89 x 65 x 43 cm
Location: Palazzo Pretorio Museum
Third Floor

Through the allegorical theme, the sculpture seeks to glorify spiritual and maternal education, a sentiment that was particularly in vogue at the time of the Lorraines. Inspiration from 15th-century Tuscan sculpture is discernible in the classical modelling.
Both the Charity and Gratitude were acquired in 2014 by the state to be housed at the Gipsoteca Bartoliniana of the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence. The Galleria dell'Accademia’s storerooms also hold a small-scale model of this same work, which Bartolini replicated several times.