Catalogues

Mother with Child in Interior

A young lady is seated in an Empire chair, hugging her son with both arms; the boy is also clinging to his mother from the side. For a single moment, their common look at the observer removes the impression of their unity. The tender relationship between mother and child portrayed in this way was one which became a subject in the 19th century. The child, then no longer typified and no longer serving as a decoration to emphasize the mother's role, is now shown in a new understanding of the child as an independent creature with individual needs. At the same time, the new role of the child anticipates an idealization of childhood as the epitome of an original, untamed natural state, very common during the "Biedermeier" era.