Thomas of Villanova, Archbishop of Valencia Distributing Alms to the Poor

Thomas of Villanova, Archbishop of Valencia Distributing Alms to the Poor

Pedro Orrente

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Pedro Orrente worked mainly in and around Valencia. He is best known for his large drawings executed in red wash, of which this is a fine example. Thomas of Villanova (1488–1555) was a Spanish friar of the Augustinian order. Because of his many acts of charity, he is known as the "father of the poor." Here, Villanova is shown distributing alms to those kneeling before him. He is depicted again at right performing a similar act. The drawing is not related to a known painting and seems to be one of his many independent sheets. At the bottom of the sheet is the inscription "14Rs," the price for which the drawing sold, presumably in the seventeenth century.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Thomas of Villanova, Archbishop of Valencia Distributing Alms to the PoorThomas of Villanova, Archbishop of Valencia Distributing Alms to the PoorThomas of Villanova, Archbishop of Valencia Distributing Alms to the PoorThomas of Villanova, Archbishop of Valencia Distributing Alms to the PoorThomas of Villanova, Archbishop of Valencia Distributing Alms to the Poor

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.