Caring for the children at the Orphanage in Haarlem: three Acts of Mercy
Caring for the children at the Orphanage in Haarlem: three Acts of Mercy
Caring for the children at the Orphanage in Haarlem: three Acts of Mercy
By Jan Salomonsz de Bray
Caring for the children at the Orphanage in Haarlem: three Acts of Mercy
Caring for the children at the Orphanage in Haarlem: three Acts of Mercy
Caring for the children at the Orphanage in Haarlem: three Acts of Mercy

Children are being given food and drink, and helped out of their rags and into new blue and red orphanage uniforms. The painting shows three of the seven Christian works of mercy: feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty and clothing the naked. Jan de Bray painted this work for the regents’ chamber of the Children’s Charity Home. The Children’s Charity Home took in orphans from the age of 9 and children suffering from neglect. It was founded in 1656 in the former Magdalene convent in the Magdalenastraat.