Lorenzo Bartolini
(Florence 1777-1850)

La Carità Educatrice

Exhibited at the Salon in 1824 (probably plaster)
White marble
Signed Bartolini Compose e Termino
Carved ca. 1840
Height 289,5cm (190,5cm)

La Carità Educatrice is one of Bartolini’s most majestic compositions. It was commissioned in 1817 when Bartolini was forty-years-old. It was intended to be placed in the niches of the chapel of the royal villa at Poggio Imperiale together with five other statues by rival local sculptors representing faith, hope, humility, strength and the prophets Aaron and Moses. For this very Tuscan commission Bartolini created a work that epitomizes the character of his Tuscan brand of Neo-classicism.
The decoration at Poggio Imperiale were never completed and in 1836 Bartolini sold his first marble of La Carità Educatrice to the Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany for 20.000 Lira. It was initially displayed on the ground floor of the Palazzo Pitti before moving to the Galleria Palatino.
The female figure of charity stands in classical robes. The intricate folds of the dress contrast with the broad sweep of the cloak pulled across the legs with Phidian elegance. A sleeping baby held in the woman’s right arm rests his head on her shoulder, whilst she affectionately points to the scroll held by the older boy on the left. The didactic composition on the virtues of knowledge seems less important than the tenderness and maternal affection tenderness in the group.
Bartolini however gave it second, more political-religious meaning, supporting Vangelo’s Risorgimento by means of education.

Museums:
Galleria Palatina, Florence
Palazzo Balbi, Genua
Walker Art Gallery Liverpool

Literature:
Tinti, M. Lorenzo Bartolini, Rome, 1936, Vol II, pp 44-46
Lorenzo Bartolini, exibition cattalogue, Pallazo Pretorio, 1978, pp 42-43
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 1984, p 33

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