Seated Peasant Woman with Sleeping Child 1758 - 1759

Francesco Londonio made this etching, “Seated Peasant Woman with Sleeping Child,” sometime in the 18th century. During this time, the art academy was becoming the dominant institution in the art world. Londonio was himself a member of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Parma. This print is of a familiar type: the study of a peasant. But rather than idealizing the rural poor, Londonio shows us their hardship, signified in this mother’s bare feet, her coarse clothing, and the burden of her child. These images were collected by connoisseurs and served as models for aspiring artists, but what was their social function? Were they simply exercises in observation? Or did they, perhaps, encourage compassion and charity in their viewers? To understand this image better, we can investigate the history of the academy and the market for prints in 18th-century Italy. We might also look at the artist’s other works to better understand his views on social class.