Allegorical subjects of this type are relatively rare in Antwerp painting in the second half of the sixteenth century, as it seems that the iconoclastic crisis of the 1560s stifled artistic creativity, and made patrons nervous of commissioning subjects such as this. While the obvious influences are those of Frans Floris (q.v.), compositions such as this one refer back to Raphael.  Further Italian renaissance influence is seen in the Christ Child standing on the lap of the Virgin as in Michelangelo’s Bruges Madonna, famous in the Netherlands ever since it had been installed in Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk at Bruges in 1506. Charity is one of the three theological virtues, the other two being Faith and Hope, all represented here by three children. The flaming heart and the grapes symbolise divine love and earthly love, while all the figures trample on the figure symbolic of avarice, one of the seven deadly sins.

‍