Artwork
A Mother with her Children

A Mother with her Children is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Cornelis Dusart. It dates from 1696 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work reflects themes of nurturing and familial continuity, resonating with contemporary values of motherhood and household stability.
The painting portrays a mother cradling her child, a visual motif that emphasizes maternal care and domestic intimacy. The composition underscores familial bonds through the tender gesture and close proximity of the figures. Its depiction aligns with genre scenes that celebrate everyday domestic life in the late 17th century.
The work reflects themes of nurturing and familial continuity, resonating with contemporary values of motherhood and household stability.
Technique & Style
A Mother with her Children is executed in oil paint on panel, a support and medium combination characteristic of seventeenth-century Dutch cabinet pictures. The work is classified as a genre painting, situating it within Cornelis Dusart's broader production of everyday scenes. Its modest dimensions, 32 cm in height by 25 cm in width, are consistent with the small-scale, finely handled format on which Dusart built his reputation, allowing for detailed treatment of figures and interior settings.
The painting is held in the Rijksmuseum collection, having previously been owned by Henric Muilman and Jacobus Salomon Hendrik van de Poll.
The sources do not provide specific information on the handling of the brushwork, the state of conservation, or particular stylistic qualities such as palette or composition, so further technical description cannot be grounded.
History & Provenance
Cornelis Dusart created the oil painting A Mother with her Children in 1690. Executed on a panel support, the work measures 32 cm in height and 25 cm in width. The piece was previously owned by Henric Muilman and later by Jacobus Salomon Hendrik van de Poll before entering the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
Context
The painting A Mother with her Children was created by Cornelis Dusart in 1690 as an oil on panel work measuring 32 by 25 centimeters. It belongs to the genre of genre scenes and was later acquired by Jacobus Salomon Hendrik van de Poll and Henric Muilman before entering the collection of the Rijksmuseum. The piece is documented in the Rijksmuseum's holdings and was created during the Dutch Golden Age, reflecting the period's focus on domestic and genre subjects.
Scholarly attention to the work remains limited, though it is recognized as part of Dusart's broader output within the tradition of 17th-century Dutch painting.
Overview
A Mother with her Children is a 1696 oil painting by Cornelis Dusart, a Dutch artist trained by Adriaen van Ostade. The work is part of the Rijksmuseum's collection.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Cornelis Dusart (April 24, 1660 – October 1, 1704) was a Dutch genre painter, drawer (artists), and printmaker.


















