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Master of Alkmaar, The Seven Works of Mercy: Feeding the Hungry, 1504
In a Dutch street a couple hands out bread from a basket at the door of their house. The poor crowd round: old men, a cripple on the ground, a child on its father's shoulders. Among them stands a quiet figure whom nobody notices.
This is the first of seven panels painted in 1504 for the church of St Lawrence in Alkmaar, one for each work of mercy. Six come from Christ's words in Matthew 25; burying the dead was added later from the book of Tobit. In each panel Christ himself stands among the needy.
Christ stands in the middle of the queue and looks out of the picture at us.
The woman takes the loaves from the basket one by one; hands reach towards her.
