Mother and Child

Mother and Child at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston continues Fragonard's series of tender maternal subjects that bridged Rococo decorative charm and the emerging cult of sensibility. Such paintings satisfied a growing audience that valued natural emotion over aristocratic artifice. 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 Venice.

The soft, enveloping light and warm tonality create an atmosphere of intimate domesticity. Fragonard's fluid brushwork unifies mother and child in a single expressive gesture.