Personificatie van de liefdadigheid 1710s

"Personificatie van de liefdadigheid" (Personification of Charity), an etching created by Dutch artist Arnold Houbraken in the 1710s, depicts a female figure standing on a pedestal. Dressed in flowing robes and a wreath of flowers, she holds a string of pearls in one hand and a pair of shears in the other, symbolizing the virtue of giving and the ability to cut ties that bind. The figure, a personification of Charity, stands in front of a landscape with two smaller figures in the background. Houbraken’s etchings were often created to illustrate specific concepts, making this print a valuable example of visual representation of abstract ideas in 18th-century art.