Arcadópolis
The Cradle
Berthe Morisot, 1872
What you see
A young woman in a dark blue dress, a black ribbon at her throat, sits beside a cradle and rests her cheek on her hand. With her other hand she holds the edge of the sheer veil covering the sleeping baby at lower right. Her gaze runs diagonally down to the small face, while the veil, falling from above, frames them both.
Almost everything is white, pale blue and pink, and the dark dress is the only strong note. The veil is painted with light strokes that let us see through it. Keep an eye out for the pink ribbon trimming the cradle’s fabric and for the pale curtain on the left, which echoes the tones of the veil.
About Berthe Morisot
Berthe Morisot was a French painter and one of the founders of the Impressionist group: she took part in seven of its eight exhibitions, between 1874 and 1886. With quick, light brushstrokes she painted intimate scenes from the lives of the women around her, such as her mother, her sister Edma and her daughter Julie. She was married to Eugène Manet, brother of the painter Édouard Manet, and in 1896, a year after her death, the Durand-Ruel gallery held a large exhibition of her work in Paris.
More by Berthe Morisot
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