The Visit to the Wet Nurse

The Visit to the Wet Nurse at Waddesdon Manor depicts the common eighteenth-century French practice of sending infants to rural wet nurses, a custom that would later be condemned by Rousseau and other Enlightenment reformers. The painting captures the emotional dynamics of this social arrangement. The bravura brushwork—rapid, swirling strokes building luminous effects—was applied alla prima onto canvas primed with warm ochre grounds, a technique Fragonard developed after studying Tiepolo in...

The rural setting contrasts with the fashionable dress of the visiting parents, creating a visual dialogue between city and country. Fragonard's warm palette and empathetic figure handling infuse the scene with sentiment.