Image source: Wikimedia Commons (Public domain). View source
The Clubfoot
Jusepe de Ribera · Baroque & Dutch Golden Age
- Artist
- Jusepe de Ribera (1591–1652)
- Date
- 1642
- Dimensions
- 164 x 93.5 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Musée du Louvre, Paris, France
The Clubfoot shows a poor street boy with a deformed foot standing before a wide landscape and a luminous sky, grinning broadly at the viewer with gaps in his teeth, his crutch over his shoulder like a soldier's musket.
A closer look
Ribera painted the boy almost life-size, seen from below, which gives him an unexpected dignity, like the portrait of a nobleman. In his hand he holds a piece of paper with a Latin inscription meaning 'Give me alms for the love of God', a reminder that disabled people could beg legally only with a licence. Yet there is no self-pity here: the boy's cheerful, confident expression and the clear blue sky create a mood of optimism. The painting reflects the religious belief in charity and the dignity of the poor.
History of the painting
The painting entered the Louvre in 1869 with the bequest of Louis La Caze, a Paris doctor who left the museum several hundred paintings, including works by Rembrandt, Watteau, Chardin and Ribera. It was one of the largest gifts the Louvre has ever received, and it greatly strengthened its collection of Spanish painting.