European beggars

Despite the establishment of the European social state, the existence of beggars was always a constant social issue. Numerous artists have painted this scourge of various types of society.

Apesar do estabelecimento do Estado social europeu, o problema dos pedintes manteve-se sempre atual. Numerosos artistas pintaram esta chaga dos vários tipos de sociedade.

Ivan Alekseyevich Yermenyov (1746-1792)-'the singing beggars'-watercolor    St Petersburg-Russian Museum

Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller (1793-1865)-'the charity'-ca 1865

Johann Georg Meyer (1813-1886)-'begging children'-oil on canvas-1880

Antoine Béranger (1785-1867)-'blind beggar and a young boy at the house of a lady'-oil on canvas-1819

Michel Martin Droling (1789-1851)-'alms to the poor'-oil on canvas    Private collection

William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905)-'little beggars'-1880

Beggars (mendigos)

We designate homeless or beggars the human beings who are unable to ensure their own survival, particularly food survival. They fall into moral degradation by resorting to begging. In some cases these situations are connected to problems like unemployment, drug addiction and psychiatric disorders.

Denominam-se mendigos ou pedintes os seres humanos incapazes de per si garantirem a sua sobrevivência, principalmente alimentar. Caem na degradação moral do recurso à mendicidade. Em alguns casos estão ligados a problemas de desemprego, toxicodependência e do foro psiquiátrico.

Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825)-'Belisarius (general of Byzantine Empire) begging for alms'-oil on canvas-1784   Paris-Musée du Louvre

Georges La Tour (1593-1652)-'the pea-eaters'-oil on canvas   Berlin-Gemäldegalerie

Joos van Craesbeck (1625-1660)-'beggar girl'-oil on canvas   Wien-Kunsthistorisches Museum

Francisco de Herrera (1576-1656)-'blind organ-grinder'-oil on canvas-1640   Wien-Kunsthistorisches Museum

Alfred George Stevens (1817-1875)-'they call the vagabonds'-oil on canvas-1855   Paris-Musée d' Orsay