Michael Sweerts, 'Refreshing the Thirsty', 1646 - 1649

Under a shadowy archway, two strongly built men drink from simple bowls. A pilgrim in a long, heavy gown bows his bald head, perhaps offering a prayer of thanks. A tousle-haired man with bare shoulders and legs wastes no time on ceremony, eagerly dipping his face into his bowl. Behind them, a third man casts his eyes heavenwards as he leans back to drink deeply. Between the men, a young boy sits almost hidden by his large hat. He looks straight at us with quiet resignation.

By placing these figures beneath the church above, Sweerts suggested that refreshing the soul matters as much as quenching physical thirst. The church is Santissima Trinità dei Monti in Rome, which sits atop the cliff where the Spanish Steps stand today. At the top of this cliff, tiny figures look out over the landscape, their small size emphasising the church’s majesty towering over this scene of human need. In Sweerts’s time, monks there dedicated themselves to serving the poor. Outside in the bright sunlight, crowds of people wait patiently in a long queue. Rome in the 1640s already had decorative fountains and running water, but only wealthy citizens could afford them. The poor had to buy water at high prices from travelling sellers or wait at springs and wells like this one.

The waiting crowd tells many stories. Their clothes suggest these people are not all destitute – they are simply in need. A silhouetted man hangs his head, perhaps in despair or watching over his family below. In an almost comic moment, a man leans on a barrel and holds out his bowl to a well-dressed man carrying a fancy jar. The gentleman recoils, clearly taken by surprise at such boldness. Nearby, a workman hammers at a new barrel to insert a spout for easier pouring.

Michael Sweerts was born in Brussels but spent several years living and working in Rome. Around 1650, he created a series on the Seven Acts of Mercy. Each painting is of nearly identical size and depicts one, two or three foreground figures set in dramatically lit landscapes. During his Roman years, he came under the influence of Caravaggio’s followers, who used strong contrasts between light and dark and painted ordinary people without flattery.

Sweerts created the seven-painting cycle for Joseph Deutz (1624–1684), whose Amsterdam trading family were his greatest patrons. Deutz hung the paintings together in the reception room of his house, still standing at No. 450, Herengracht. Four of the paintings in the cycle remain in Amsterdam today (Rijksmuseum), including this work and Feeding the Hungry, which are both currently on loan to the National Gallery. The rest of the works are scattered across Europe. Harbouring the Stranger (Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck, Germany) includes a haunting self portrait by Sweerts; Ministering to Prisoners is in a private European collection.

These acts of mercy come from the Gospel of Matthew (25:31–40). Augustine of Hippo and Benedict of Nursia first listed the acts as essential expressions of Christian faith. As a devout and compassionate believer, Sweerts would have recognised them as guiding principles for how to live. In each painting of his series, he includes a figure who looks directly at the viewer to stir feelings of responsibility.