The blind beggars hats [graphic]

"A scene in a Florentine street or piazza in front of a Gothic shrine (left) in which is a Virgin and child. Two blind beggars, each with a dog, are fighting. A well-dressed man walks off with their hats, looking at them over his shoulder with a smile. Spectators look from a window and a door. A penniless man of ancient family prays regularly to the Virgin for relief. On one occasion he hears two blind beggars at her shrine boasting of the wealth concealed in their hats; he thereupon runs away with the hats, confesses to a prelate, who approves, but insists on taking a major share of the spoil."--British Museum online catalogue