The Beggars of Burgos

The Beggars of Burgos (Les mendiants de Burgos) is a painting by Gustave Doré, done in 1875. Painted using oil on canvas, it was sold in 2012 by Galerie Michel Descours.

It shows a group of Castilian beggars clustered before a whitewashed wall as though they have assembled for a portrait. Most are dressed in tattered blankets, threadbare shawls, and disheveled clothing, though some wear colorful sashes and hats. A young mother, perhaps a recent widow, sits alone holding her infant. A crippled man lies in a small wooden wagon, his hands wrapped in leather or rags. Near the center, a tall man leans on walking sticks; one family with two small children stands to his left, while a couple sprawl on the sidewalk with an infant and a dog. Others beggars seen at the edges of the painting include a woman with a tambourine and several men who may have once been soldiers or tradesmen fallen on hard times.