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Girolamo Macchietti (1535–1592)
Allegory of Charity with Five Children, 1560s/70s
Pen and brown ink and wash, heightened with white gouache, on paper washed green
Inscribed in brown ink at lower right, Beccafumo
10 15/16 x 8 3/8 inches (278 x 213 mm)
Gift of Helen-Mae and Seymour Askin, Jr. in honor of Charles E. Pierce, Jr.'s tenure as director; 2007.71
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Macchietti worked with Vasari on various projects in Palazzo Vecchio, including the decoration of Francesco de' Medici's Wunderkammer, the Studiolo. This sheet is thought to have been made toward the height of Macchietti's career. It was perhaps inspired by Andrea del Sarto's 1513 fresco, Charity, in the Chiostro dello Scalzo in Florence, which the younger artist would have seen and admired as a student. The use of green wash adds to the jewellike refinement of the drawing, apparent in the graceful figure of Charity, which reflects the decorative style of the paintings that Macchietti created for the Studiolo.

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