Santa Zita giving alms before 1885

Frederick Hollyer created this photogravure, Santa Zita giving alms, sometime between 1838 and 1933. Hollyer was known for photographing paintings by Pre-Raphaelite artists like Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones. Here, Hollyer depicts Santa Zita, the patron saint of maids and domestic servants, as she gives alms to the poor. Zita was herself a servant for the Fatinelli family in Lucca, Italy, for over 40 years. Though a servant, she was known for her generosity to those in need, often giving away her own food and clothing. The composition shows Zita as a young woman, modestly dressed, handing out alms. The figures around her, likely representing the poor and needy, reach out to her with gratitude. In Hollyer’s time, the Victorian era was marked by a rigid class structure, and the Pre-Raphaelites often challenged these norms. The image of Zita, a servant herself, giving to the poor, underscores the virtues of charity and compassion, regardless of one's social status. It serves as a reminder of the power of individual acts of kindness in a world often divided by social and economic disparities.