Maternal Affection Print

Product Description

Lagrenée was celebrated for his small-scale cabinet paintings of classical & mythological subjects. Here, three women tend to two infants within a sunlit loggia. The warm light, tiles underfoot, & leafy trees in the background suggest that the scene takes place in temperate climes. To an 18th-century audience, the women’s clothing would have been immediately understood as antique dress. Depictions of motherhood, & particularly breastfeeding, became increasingly popular in the second half of the 18th century. The writings of Jean Jacques Rousseau prompted a debate about mothers nursing their own children (then an uncommon practice). Lagrenée’s allegorical depiction of motherhood is both tender & elegant, executed with his characteristically meticulous brushwork & harmonious colouring. Signed & dated 1773, it is possible that Lagrenée exhibited Maternal Affection at the Salon of 1773 under the title ' La Douceur'. That painting was bought by the Earl of Shelburne (1737–1805), in whose posthumous sale of 1806 a ‘ Maternal Affection’ by Lagrenée appears.