Charity, seated at the centre, has three children about her, forming a pyramid. Her head is turned almost in profile to the right and rests against that of a naked boy who is standing. Another child is asleep on her lap, while a third suckles from her right breast. The subject of Charity, the greatest of the three theological virtues, developed in painting to become by the sixteenth century most typically represented by a woman with children around her, one often shown at her breast. She is seated on the ground as a sign of humility.

Cignani treated the subject a number of times in various compositions; this picture is a version of an original Cignani in a private collection at Bologna. Cignani was known to have employed numerous assistants, making it possible that this painting might be a studio work rather than merely an old copy.

The painting appears in Pyne's illustrated Royal Residences of 1819, hanging in the Queen's State Bedchamber at Windsor Castle (RCIN 922103).