Conversation Piece

What you see

In an elegant parlor, a seated woman holds a baby on her lap, its arms stretched upward. Behind her, a standing man with a reddish beard leans over and dangles a pair of cherries above it. The eye travels from his face down to the cherries and the baby's little hands. On the left is a table with a red cloth, decanters and fruit.

The gold-striped silk skirt catches most of the light, set against the man's brown coat and the pink folding screen. The baby's blue bows echo a blue ribbon hanging from the table. Watch for the doll lying on the floor at lower right, and the dark statuettes on the mantelpiece.