Heilige Familie met Maria het Kind zogend 1635 - 1645

Henri Picquot created this engraving called 'Holy Family with Mary Nursing the Child'. In this piece we see Mary nursing baby Jesus in the presence of Joseph, another woman, and a young boy. In much of Western art history, the Holy Family is depicted to emphasize the divine, often obscuring the realities of family life. Here, however, Picquot captures an intimate moment. As Mary nurses her child, it normalizes a practice often hidden from the public eye. This tender moment disrupts traditional, often idealized, representations. This artwork can be viewed as a quiet assertion of the maternal body and a tribute to the everyday labor of motherhood. In centering the act of nursing, this work invites us to contemplate the intersection of the sacred and the domestic, offering a glimpse into the human side of a divine narrative.