ABSTRACT
Nicolas Poussin rarely used images of breastfeeding women in his religious canvases, and when he painted the well-known concept of Charity, he did not use the same literary sources as his French opponents who were influenced by Cesare Ripa's Iconologia. During the first half of the seventeenth century in France, portrayals of the allegory of "charity" were commissioned by numerous patrons to decorate their homes. The spiritual role of Charity was rehabilitated in Poussin's two theoretical paintings, which were nurtured by Italian artistic theory. The birth of the Idea or concetto of this painted image displays Poussin's erudite knowledge of Renaissance art and antique literature. Poussin used Charity a few years later in The Gathering of the Manna, delivered in 1639 to Paul Freart de Chantelou. By creating new iconographical motifs, Poussin highly influenced the ways in which French painters rendered historical paintings. Le Brun's study of Poussin's technique also nourished his talks at the Academy.
