01 Works, RELIGIOUS ART - Paintings from the Bible by the Old Masters, 5c

William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1825 - 1905

Indigent Family (Charity). 1865. 

Oil on canvas. 

75.00x61.00 cm

Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL, USA. 

Traditionally, Charity was represented as a mother and children but here Bouguereau gives the theme a new twist as the mother and children are, themselves, in need of charity. A destitute family of a barefoot mother and her three young children sit huddled on the lower steps of the Church of the Madeleine, Paris. The symmetry of the pyramidal composition and low viewpoint lend the group a sense of monumentality. The mother's sorrowful gaze toward the viewer is reminiscent of a Madonna and further suggests the idea of a secular altarpiece in which the group of figures take on an allegorical dimension. In the top right hand corner, a poster containing an extract from a sermon on charity by the radical priest Father Lacordaire reiterates Bouguereau's intended meaning. A preliminary drawing for Charity shows a line of Parisian rooftops in the left background. However, the finished painting shows the Campidoglio Palace in Rome, aligning this work with the contemporary vogue for Italian beggar subjects and diminishing the element of social critique for its Parisian audience. More Vads

William-Adolphe Bouguereau (November 30, 1825 – August 19, 1905) was a French academic painter and traditionalist. In his realistic genre paintings he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female human body. During his life he enjoyed significant popularity in France and the United States, was given numerous official honors, and received top prices for his work. As the quintessential salon painter of his generation, he was reviled by the Impressionist avant-garde. By the early twentieth century, Bouguereau and his art fell out of favor with the public, due in part to changing tastes. In the 1980s, a revival of interest in figure painting led to a rediscovery of Bouguereau and his work. Throughout the course of his life, Bouguereau executed 822 known finished paintings, although the whereabouts of many are still unknown. More William-Adolphe Bouguereau

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