Artwork
Mother and Child
Mother and Child is an oil painting by the Realist artist Jean Baptiste Camille Corot. It dates from 1864 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting portrays a mother cradling her infant while nursing, a scene explicitly noted as depicting breastfeeding, mother, woman, and infant.
The painting portrays a mother cradling her infant while nursing, a scene explicitly noted as depicting breastfeeding, mother, woman, and infant. By focusing on this intimate act, the work underscores themes of maternal care and the nurturing bond between parent and child. The composition, rendered in oil on panel, emphasizes the tenderness of the relationship without overt narrative or allegorical elements, allowing the simple act of feeding to serve as a quiet meditation on domestic intimacy.
The depiction aligns with the artist’s broader interest in everyday moments, presenting the subject as both a realistic observation and a symbolic representation of maternal devotion.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1864, this work by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot is an oil painting created on a wooden panel support. The composition focuses intimately on the figures of a woman and an infant, specifically depicting the act of breastfeeding. While specific surface condition or handling history is not detailed in the available records, the formal approach utilizes oil paint to render the maternal subject.
The physical dimensions of the panel are recorded as 32.4 cm in height and 22.5 cm in width, indicating a small-scale format typical for such personal studies. The medium allows for the soft modeling of the figures, characteristic of Corot's later style, though the specific brushwork texture is not explicitly described in the source data.
History & Provenance
The work titled Mother and Child was painted by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot in 1864, as recorded in contemporary documentation and catalogued as an oil on panel work. It entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains on public display. The museum’s records indicate an inception date of 1864-01-01 and specify the dimensions of 32.4 cm by 22.5 cm, confirming the work’s creation history and establishing its provenance from the artist’s studio to its current institutional ownership.
The work is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it is inventoried as 11.145. It was first recorded in the museum’s holdings in 1911 as a gift of J. Pierpont Morgan. The painting has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1996 as part of the collection display, and in 2005 it appeared in the exhibition "Corot: Works from the Collections of the Musée du Louvre, Paris, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York."
Overview
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, a French painter recognized for his contributions to both landscape and portraiture, completed Mother and Child in 1864. This oil painting exemplifies the Realist approach through its depiction of a woman nursing an infant. The work is characterized by its intimate portrayal of a domestic scene, rendered with a subdued palette and focused lighting. It is currently part of the collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Context
While Corot is often associated with his innovative landscape paintings and his role in bridging Neo-Classical traditions with plein-air techniques, Mother and Child demonstrates his engagement with portraiture and genre scenes. Created during a period when Realism was gaining prominence, the painting reflects a broader artistic shift towards depicting contemporary life and ordinary people, moving away from idealized or historical subjects.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (UK: KORR-oh, US: kə-ROH, kor-OH; French:; 16 July 1796 – 22 February 1875), or simply Camille Corot, was a French landscape and portrait painter as well as a printmaker in etching.
