"For I was in prison and you came to me"
The Seven Acts of Mercy were a popular subject in early modern European painting. They depict works of charity that a pious Christian should do for salvation, mostly inspired by the Gospel of Matthew: "for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me." And they added a seventh (religious tip: always rig things to end up with a pretty number!), which is to bury the dead.
One of the earliest examples: The Seven Works of Mercy, by the Master of Alkmaar (Netherlands, circa 1504).
The sixth act of mercy, "to visit the imprisoned", had an interesting side-effect: painters deigned to depict prisons, an otherwise uncommon subject even in genre paintings. The documentary value of these depictions is debatable. It's not a given that the painter knew first-hand what a prison looks like, and of course artistic conventions and considerations always came first – an accurate representation of reality was never the goal.
But it's still worthwhile to notice the details. Most of the time prisoners are bound (in chains, ropes, manacles, pillories, stocks). The visitors talk to them, greet them, touch them, give them food, and often give money to the wardens. Note that in many prisons at the time the incarcerated were expected to pay for their food, and its quantity and quality (as well as general conditions and amenities) depended on the payment. A lot of people only got to eat because their relatives brought them food every day, or they depended on the charity of strangers. The prisons themselves are dark and dismal, with heavy gates and bars in the windows, but in some cases the prisoners are chained outside or in a yard. And there are no individual cells at all, only common halls.
Here are a few of those paintings and prints (i.e. all I could find online), in chronological order from 1504 to 1660:
ca 1504, Master of Alkmaar, The Seven Works of Mercy, ca. (Alkmaar, Netherlands)
ca 1510, Meester van de Levensbron (Master of the Prague Fountain of Life), De Zeven Werken van Barmhartigheid (Dutch)
1514-24, Sperindio Cagnola, Works of Mercy (Visit the imprisoned), fresco, San Marcello Church, Paruzzaro, Italy
ca 1534, Georg Pencz (German) - To Visit the Imprisoned
1559, Caritas, The Seven Acts of Mercy, pen and ink drawing by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, (Antwerp, Flanders)
1571, Pieter Nagel (Antwerp) after Gerard van Groeningen
1577, Philip Galle, print, Freeing or visiting the prisoners as fourth of the works of mercy (Dutch, worked in Antwerp)
1580-1588, print by Crispijn van de Passe (Dutch) after Maerten de Vos (Flemish)
ca 1600, unknown Flemish artist in the manner of Frans Floris, in the sacristy of the Basilica of Saint Servatius in Maastricht, Netherlands
1600s, Anonymous printer 1585-1646, Amsterdam, after a drawing by Maerten de Vos (1532-1603, Flemish)
ca 1600-1638, Pieter Brueghel the Younger (Flemish)
ca 1607, Caravaggio - Sette opere di Misericordia, in the church Pio Monte della Misericordia, Naples
By exception, this Caravaggio is a painting with all the seven works of mercy in the same scene. If you're wondering "where's visit the prisoners", that would be the woman on the right, baring her breast to nurse an old man. And if you're wondering "what the hell is THAT", well it's the Roman Charity: an ancient Roman story of filial piety "in which a woman secretly breastfeeds her father or mother, incarcerated and supposedly sentenced to death by starvation. Once caught, the loving devotion shown so moves the authorities that she is forgiven and the parent is typically freed." Depictions go far back to a Pompeii fresco, and from ~1500 it became a popular motif. Not quite a prison scene, but I could never resist Caravaggio.
1635, Abraham Bosse - Les Oeuvres de Miséricorde: Visiter les Prisonniers (French)
1640, Cornelis De Wael - To Visit the Imprisoned (Flemish, worked in Genoa)
1646-1649, Michiel Sweerts, The Seven Acts of Mercy - Ministering to Prisoners (Flemish, worked in Rome)
1650, Frans Francken the Younger, To visit the prisoner (Flemish, Antwerp)
ca 1660, Cosimo Ulivelli (1625–1705) , Santi Jacopo e Filippo (Florence, Italy)
2087
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