In the woods 1865

Albrecht Anker likely painted this image of a sleeping girl in the late 19th century. She is lying amongst the foliage in a forest next to some gathered wood. The image conjures the fairy-tale world of peasant children gathering wood and encountering wolves in the forest, but in reality, the labour of children was a serious feature of 19th century rural society, especially in a relatively poor country like Switzerland. This artistic depiction softens the reality of peasant labour by portraying this young girl asleep on the job, resting from work. The artistic style here derives from Realism, however there is a romanticism and a softness in the way this girl is sleeping peacefully with bare feet, suggesting a prelapsarian innocence. When looking at images like this, it's always useful to know the artist's background, to understand the role that patronage played, and to be aware of the socio-economic conditions of the time. This helps us to situate the image within the complex history of social relations.