Allegory of Maternity

Date

1789

Creator

This portrayal of an elegantly dressed woman interacting with a little girl in a domestic interior is an allegory (a depiction of something that reveals hidden meaning), but likely not of maternity as the title suggests. Rather, it may be read as a response to the roiling political situation in the early stages of the French Revolution. The woman offers the child, clad in a coarse costume and holding a corset (something that constrains), a cookie—a gesture suggesting charity. The child lifts her hand to her mouth in thanks. A still life of books, globe, lute, portfolio, and a statuette of Minerva are attributes of learning. Minerva is the Roman goddess of wisdom, but also of war. The scene is completed with a small mother dog turning her back on her rambunctious puppies and escaping into her fancy crate. The ambiguity is rife with interpretive possibilities.