The Cage
Berthe Morisot·1885
Historical Context
Painted in 1885 and now in the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, this canvas of a woman with a birdcage belongs to the recurring subject in Morisot's work of women with pets — especially birds — which she treated as occasions to explore both domestic intimacy and the motif of confinement and captivity with an ambiguity typical of her approach to feminine subjects. The birdcage's geometric form provides compositional structure within the softer domestic interior.
Technical Analysis
The cage's wire structure is suggested with delicate, precise marks that contrast with the looser handling of the surrounding space. The woman's figure and the room's interior are painted in Morisot's characteristic warm, high-keyed palette. The relationship between the confined bird and the relatively confined domestic woman is implicit in the composition's quiet observation.
