Charity

Charity from 1537 by Hans Baldung Grien depicts the theological virtue as a female figure, typically shown nursing or surrounded by children. Virtue allegories were common in Renaissance art, and Baldung's interpretation reflects his personal approach to the female figure. Baldung, who trained under Dürer in Nuremberg, brings an expressionistic edge to virtue allegory, his female figures always charged with a psychological complexity that sets him apart from his contemporaries.

The allegorical figure is rendered with Baldung's characteristic approach to the female form, combining idealization with his distinctive expressive quality.