Speak to Me Sunday: The Seven Acts of Mercy

Many of you know of my love for Caravaggio. During a free afternoon in Naples last October, a small group of us visited one of Caravaggio’s most famous paintings, Le sette opere di Misericordia (The Seven Acts of Mercy).

Amazingly, we were the only ones present, and standing in front of this masterpiece I quietly read aloud from my notes as we immersed ourselves into the drama of the painting.

A little art appreciation on a Sunday afternoon does the soul good (that is my theory, anyway) so here are my notes. As you read, it is helpful to refer to the photo; you can even continue the art lesson with the Details to Note. 

The Seven Acts of Mercy (refer to the image below)

1.      Bury the Dead

In the center background, two men carry a dead man (only his feet are visible). A man is holding a candle (the only light source) and based on his garments he is a priest. The man in the dark colored shirt is believed to be the grave digger.

2.      Shelter the Homeless

Third from left, a bearded man with a scallop shell on his hat is asking for shelter. He is a pilgrim. The man directly in front of him is the innkeeper who indicates with his finger (pointing out of the canvas) that he has room and will offer shelter.

The scallop shell is the mark of a pilgrim and is connected to the story of St. James the Great (a disciple of Christ). Today the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) uses the scallop shell as mile markers on the pilgrim’s path to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Additionally, scallop shells are often found on baptismal fonts and often used to scoop the water over the head of those being baptized. 

3.      Clothe the Naked

The fourth figure from the left is St. Martin of Tours who is tearing his robe in half to give it to the naked beggar in the foreground. Above the beggar’s shoulder, St. Martin’s sword appears as a slash of white as he has just used it to slice the fabric.

The legend of St. Martin, a Roman soldier stationed in Gaul, was that he saw a beggar as he approached the city gates. Determined to help, he removed his military cloak and cut it in two and wrapped the beggar with one half. That night, St. Martin had a dream in which he saw Jesus wearing the cloak and telling the angels of the man who had shared it with him. St. Martin believed the dream offered the message that caring for the poor is like caring for Christ. Eventually, the cloak of St. Martin became a relic.

4.      Visit the Sick

The next portion of Caravaggio’s Seven Works of Mercy is the hardest to see, probably due to the darkening of the canvas over time. In the front of the painting and next to the beggar’s left arm, you will notice a foot, indicating there is another man in this section (his face is just below St. Martin’s sword). This is the sick man, perhaps crippled given the angle of his foot.

Standing over the sick man is the pilgrim in a dual role since he is painted as Christ healing the crippled man.

5.      Refresh the Thirsty

Standing between the pilgrim and the innkeeper is a wild, bearded man drinking from a bone, the water splashing onto his face. This man is Samson (yes, from Samson and Delilah). But this image references a different story from Judges 15 when Samson was fighting the Philistines and used the jawbone of a donkey to kill a thousand men. After the battle, Samson was thirsty so God opened up the jawbone and water came out of it to revive Samson.

Admittedly, Caravaggio’s inclusion of this story was confusing. He was meant to portray the seven mercies, or kindnesses, performed by humans for each other, but in Samson’s case God is the one performing the kindness.

6-7    Visit the Imprisoned, Feed the Hungry

These next two Acts of Mercy are combined into one image of the woman breastfeeding a man in prison. While unusual in modern contexts, the story was a familiar one of the time (Roman in origin) and occasionally appeared in other works of art.

Details to Note:

1-     Always in trouble with the law, Caravaggio took refuge in Naples after he committed a murder in Rome during a violent argument. It was during this exile that he painted this masterpiece.

2-     Caravaggio is known for his chiaroscuro painting technique which uses the contrast of light and dark for dramatic effect. His dark paintings usually contain a light source to draw the eye to important details. In this painting, the man carrying the candle provides the only light source, perhaps a metaphor for mercy as the acts themselves illuminate darkness.

3-     He received the commission to depict the Seven Works of Mercy for Pio Monte della Misericordia (a charitable organization) founded by seven noblemen of Naples in order to care for the poor. It is still in operation today.  

4-     One of the most important documents in the church’s archives is an invoice, dated 14 October 1607, for 400 ducats in payment to Caravaggio for the painting.

5-     The Works of Mercy are based on verses from the Gospel of Matthew; the only one not mentioned in Matthew is Bury the Dead (it is referenced in the Book of Tobit where burying the dead is mentioned as an important work of charity).

6-     While the Seven Works of Mercy are usually depicted in seven separate scenes, Caravaggio chose to combine all seven works of mercy into one composition, which became the church’s altarpiece.

7-     The work is divided into two parts: the top half is celestial (with angels and Mary with the Christ child observing the action below); the bottom half is terrestrial, or the earthly realm.

8-     The angel’s hand, reaching toward the lower figures, is a slash of light through darkness serving to connect the two halves of the painting. The open pose of his hand is associated with giving a blessing.