''Charity'' is an oil on canvas painting by Guido Reni, now in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, to which it was donated by Mr and Mrs Charles Wrightsman in 1974. The work is first recorded in a 1767 inventory of the collection of

Joseph Wenzel I, Prince of Liechtenstein Josef Wenzel I (Josef Wenzel Lorenz; 9 August 1696 – 10 February 1772), often referred to as just Wenzel, was the Prince of Liechtenstein between 1712 and 1718, and 1748 and 1772, as well as regent of Liechtenstein between 1732 and 1745. He fir ...

. It remained in the princely collection until

Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein Johann II (Johann Maria Franz Placidus; 5 October 1840 – 11 February 1929), nicknamed the Good (german: Johann II. der Gute), was Prince of Liechtenstein from 12 November 1858 until his death in 1929. His reign of 70 years and 91 days is the th ...

auctioned it in Paris on 16 May 1882. It then remained in a Parisian private collection until about 1933 with as misattribution to

Simon Vouet Simon Vouet (; 9 January 1590 – 30 June 1649) was a French painter who studied and rose to prominence in Italy before being summoned by Louis XIII to serve as Premier peintre du Roi in France. He and his studio of artists created religious and ...

, after which it passed through two art dealers before being bought in New York by the Wrightsmans in 1968.

References

{{17C-painting-stub Paintings by Guido Reni Paintings in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 17th-century allegorical paintings Allegorical paintings by Italian artists Children in art