Terms and conditions of use
Roman Charity
(c. 1769)
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Measurements
- 76.3 × 63.5 cm
- Inscription
- inscribed (diagonally) in black paint l.c.: i. Zoffanÿ / inv:
- Accession Number
- 4614-3
- Department
- International Painting
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1932
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited - Gallery location
- 19th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International - About this work
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Roman Charity depicts a story told by the Roman historian Valerius Maximus in his Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX (Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings) of around AD 30. The story involves Cimon, an old man awaiting execution in prison, who was given no food. His daughter Pero visited him, and suckled him at her own breast like a child. Pero’s nourishing of Cimon was considered a sterling example of paying honour to one’s parents.
- Subjects (general)
- History and Legend Human Figures Relationships and Interactions
- Subjects (specific)
- charity (philosophical concept) Cimon (Roman character) daughters fathers nursing (mammal feeding) Pero (Roman character) prisoners Roman Charity (Roman narrative)
Frame
-
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Loosely related to Spanish style frames, the current framing of Roman Charity came with the painting in 1932 and is likely to have been made around the time of acquisition.
The painting was cleaned and restored in 2016.
- Framemaker
- Unknown - 20th century
- Materials
-
gilded composition ornament on a wooden base.