William Adolphe Bouguereau (French, 1825–1905)

William Adolphe Bouguereau

One of the most celebrated academic painters of his time, Bouguereau underscores the moral virtues of the Italian peasants in this painting by depicting the dome of St. Peter's in the distance. The idealized figures and their triangular grouping recall the Holy Family paintings by Renaissance master Raphael 400 years earlier. The painting was purchased directly from the artist by Cleveland banker and philanthropist Hinman B. Hurlbut in July 1879.

William-Adolphe Bouguereau. The New York Cultural Center, New York, NY (organizer) (December 13, 1974-January 26, 1975).

William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).

Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum

Bouguereau & America. Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI (February 14-May 12, 2019); Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN (organizer) (June 22-September 22, 2019).

Bouguereau & America

New York Cultural Center. William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1975), no. 15, pl. 15.

Gifu (Japan), Museum of Fine Arts; Kamakura, Museum of Modern Art. Paris autour de 1882 (1982-83), no. 13, pl. 13.

Paris, Musée du Petit Palais; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; Hartford, Wadsworth Atheneum. William Bouguereau 1825-1905 (1984-85), 64, 108, no. 90 (repr.).

Norfolk, Chrysler Museum; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Paris 1889: American Artists at the Universal Exposition (1989-90), 237-38 (repr.).

A vertically oriented oil painting depicts a woman seated in profile on grass, turning to look at us and holding a nude child in her lap, another lying at her side, all with light skin tones. The woman, dressed in white shirt and red skirt extends her legs straight in front of her, the second child lying against them dressed in white shirt and brown pants. Trees mostly in shadow, a gap in the green and orange leaves at the center right shows the dome of a basilica on the horizon.

The composition of this work, with the young mother and her children positioned in the shape of a pyramid, is similar to Renaissance compositions of the Holy Family.

Holy Family

In the background beyond the trees to the right is the dome of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. After winning the prestigious Grand Prix de Rome, William Adolphe Bouguereau spent several months studying and traveling in Italy.

Saint Peter's

Bouguereau is one of the most famous painters in the academic tradition&mdash;art produced under the influence of European art academies such as the Acad&eacute;mie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Academic painting often highlighted idealized figures, like the mother and children seen here.

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