The Charity of St Lawrence

Saint Lawrence, the third-century Roman deacon martyred by being roasted alive on a gridiron, was also famous for distributing the Church's wealth to the poor when commanded to hand it to the Roman authorities — presenting the poor themselves as the Church's true treasure. Strozzi's 1639 canvas in the Venetian church of Tolentini depicts this act of charity, one of the most celebrated scenes in Christian hagiography. Strozzi's own formation as a Capuchin friar made him particularly attentive to scenes of material generosity and the faces of the poor and sick who receive it. This church painting would have been experienced differently from a cabinet picture: viewed from below, in candlelight, by congregations who were themselves often poor. The choice of subject for a Venetian church underlines the ongoing importance of works of mercy as both theological principle and social practice in early modern Italy.

Large-scale church paintings required Strozzi to adjust his handling for distance viewing: broader brushwork, simplified modelling, stronger local colour contrasts. The hierarchy of figures — Lawrence in deacon's vestments above, the poor below — follows conventional compositional logic. The giallo e rosso of Lawrence's liturgical clothing provides a warm chromatic centre.