'Take your Son, Sir'

Image credit: Tate

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Notes

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This enigmatic picture shows the artist's second wife, Emma, and their new-born son. The pose is reminiscent of a traditional Madonna and child but the mother's strained expression suggests that this is not a celebration of marriage and motherhood. The domestic details of the room are indicative of a contemporary-life subject in which this could be a kept woman offering her illegitimate child to its father, the figure reflected in the mirror. Ford Madox Brown began this picture in 1851 and although he worked on it over a number of years it remained unfinished at the time of his death.

Tate Britain

London

Title

'Take your Son, Sir'

Date

?1851–92

Medium

Oil on canvas

Measurements

H 70.5 x W 38.1 cm

Accession number

N04429

Acquisition method

gift from Emily Sargent and Violet Sargent Ormond (née Sargent) in memory of their brother, John Singer Sargent, 1929

Work type

Painting

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Tate Britain

Millbank, London, Greater London SW1P 4RG England

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