Mother and Child

Mother and Child

Unidentified Artist
England or British North America circa 1760
Oil on canvas
67.268
Friends of the Museum Purchase

Symbols of female fertility were common in portraits of the 18th century and can be seen here in the use of the pearls as jewelry and by the attention drawn to the mother’s lap with her hand and the placement of her son. The focus on female fertility and motherhood in portraiture became so dominant in the 18th century that it became formulaic.