Charity (Love)

A woman stands within a dark, arched niche, cradling two small children in a pose of maternal affection. In the upper corners, two symbolic coats of arms appear: a crucifix representing faith-driven love on the left, and a pelican feeding its young with its own blood on the right. This engraving uses swelling and tapering lines to create a sense of three-dimensional volume and texture in the drapery.

This work captures the Neoplatonic and Christian synthesis of love as a cosmic force. The inscription identifies Charity as 'Agape' and describes her as the divine origin that binds heaven and earth together, a central concept in the 'Chain of Being' philosophy prevalent in the circles of the Haarlem Mannerists and Renaissance Neoplatonists.