Moral Emblems: Charity

Engraving, part of a set of 20 moral emblems, each designated by a letter of the alphabet. The set was designed by Jean Delaune and engraved by his father, Étienne Delaune, in 1580. It explores the theme of vanity in mundane things, denouncing the artifices of the world (beauty, pleasure, luxury...), and praising virtue. This print, the last in the series, is the only one representing an example of virtue, instead of describing the artifices and vanity of the world, which are only embodied here in the luxurious buildings that serve as a backdrop for the scenes of charity represented: on the left, in a place in front of a palace, people are serving food to others who are sitting on a table, while, on the right, a man gives bowls with food to three crippled beggars. In the front plane, on the center, a male philosopher dressed in a classical draped tunic holds a book on his left hand, while signaling the scenes of charity in the background with his right. Charity is illustrated here as the principal virtue, likely because it is concerned with shared love, without which virtue would never be attained.