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Théodore Chassériau

Fisherman's Wife from Mola di Gaeta Embracing her Child, ca. 1849-1851

Now On View

Description

Maker

  • Théodore Chassériau, 1819-1856, French

Title

Fisherman's Wife from Mola di Gaeta Embracing her Child

Year

ca. 1849-1851

Medium

Oil on panel

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • oil paint

Supports

  • panel

Dimensions

17.3 x 12.1 cm (6 13/16 x 4 3/4 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signed LR:Th. Chassériau

Type

  • Paintings

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke

Object Number

28.004

Projects & Publications

Publications

European Paintings and Sculpture, ca. 1770 - 1937

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Pilgrims of Beauty

February 3 - July 8, 2012

Like many of his contemporaries the French painter Théodore Chassériau paid greater attention to Italy’s people than to its landscape and historical monuments. He based this painting on a drawing made while passing through the port town of Gaeta during his Italian tour in 1840 and 1841. Despite firsthand knowledge of local peasant costumes, Chassériau simplified the robes of the peasant mother to a classical and timeless form. The picture thereby becomes both a peasant genre scene and a universal image of motherly love, infused with beauty and spiritual purity through its visual correspondence to Italian Renaissance images of the Virgin and Child.

European Painting and Sculpture, circa 1770-1937

October 18, 1991 - January 26, 1992

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Fisherman's Wife from Mola di Gaeta Embracing her Child with the accession number of 28.004. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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