The Charity of Saint Thomas of Villanueva

Murillo's The Charity of Saint Thomas of Villanueva belongs to a series celebrating the 16th-century Spanish bishop renowned for his extraordinary generosity toward the poor. Thomas of Villanueva was canonized in 1658, and Murillo's images of him almsgiving became among the most beloved devotional works in Seville. These paintings appealed deeply to Seville's charitable confraternities and to the Counter-Reformation emphasis on active works of mercy as signs of holiness.

The saint distributes alms to a group of poor supplicants rendered with Murillo's characteristic combination of warmth and realism. The ragged figures of the poor are painted with the same sympathetic attention as the saintly bishop, and warm golden light unifies the composition.