Charity

Reynolds's Charity from around 1780 belongs to his late engagement with allegorical figure painting — a category he distinguished in his Discourses from the 'fancy pictures' of his middle career and associated with the highest aspirations of history painting. The personification of Charity as a woman nurturing children had a distinguished tradition in European religious art, from medieval illuminated manuscripts through Raphael's Vatican frescos, and Reynolds's treatment consciously participates in that tradition. The theological virtue of Charity — caritas in Latin, understood as encompassing both love of God and love of neighbour — was one of the three cardinal virtues alongside Faith and Hope, and Reynolds's decision to paint it in his late career reflects his sustained ambition to demonstrate that British painting could aspire to the elevated subjects of Continental religious art. The soft, warm tonality and the generalized, idealized treatment of the figures draw on Correggio, whose work Reynolds had admired in Parma during his Italian journey and who remained a touchstone for his softer, more sentimental figure compositions. The National Trust's canvas documents Reynolds's allegorical practice alongside the portraiture that dominated his output.

The allegorical composition groups the female figure with children. Reynolds's warm palette and flowing handling create an image of maternal virtue.