charity

Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, known as Il Sodoma, painted this allegory of Charity around 1504 for the Gemäldegalerie Berlin. Originally from Vercelli in Piedmont, Sodoma became one of the leading painters in Siena, where he brought a Leonardesque softness and sensuality to the city's artistic tradition, competing with Domenico Beccafumi for major commissions. The tempera medium required careful preparation on a gessoed panel and a disciplined layering technique that produced precise, durable surfaces suited to the intricate detail expected of devotional painting.

The panel displays Sodoma's characteristic sfumato modeling and sensuous figure treatment derived from his study of Leonardo da Vinci, combined with the warm coloring and decorative elegance favored in Sienese painting.