La Maternità

"La Maternita" by Gino Severini is a famous painting depicting a mother feeding her child. At the height of the First World War, years of hatred and violence, the artist chooses to portray a very classic idea that is that of motherhood: a young bourgeois woman who feeds her child. The idea of ??motherhood depicted seems very natural and simple. Naturalness and simplicity that are born, however, from a rigorous study, as testified by the different preparatory drawings, representing the same subject. Although a woman is portrayed with her child, the attention of the observer of the painting falls mainly on the woman. The woman's face is linear, without makeup, what she wants to represent a real and not artificial beauty. The depicted woman combines classic and modern elements: hair styling recalls a classic style, while the shirt indicates modern clothing. The exterior simplicity of the woman contrasts with the interior complexity. His face seems pensive: the eyes are closed, the head tilts down, no smile. His body language is braked: he is sitting on a stool, in a position not comfortable for breastfeeding. It seems that the woman does not want to convey any kind of emotion.