Zittende jonge vrouw met een naakt kind op schoot 1518 - 1556

This drawing, "Zittende jonge vrouw met een naakt kind op schoot," was made by Cristofano Gherardi, sometime before his death in 1556. The artwork presents a seated young woman holding a nude child in her lap. During the Renaissance, representations of women, particularly mothers, were deeply intertwined with societal expectations of female virtue and domesticity. The visual language often oscillated between the idealization of motherhood and the overt eroticization of the female form. Cristofano Gherardi develops an alternative narrative, portraying a tender moment shared between mother and child. Note how the woman’s gaze meets ours, inviting us into this intimate space. What does it mean to witness this private interaction? The artist encourages us to reflect on the multifaceted nature of femininity and maternal love, and perhaps to question some of the traditional conventions of representing women.