Drei Frauen bei einem Kinde beschäftigt 

Charles Parrocel made this red chalk drawing of three women attending to a child sometime in the early 18th century in France. Domestic scenes such as this were popular in French art at this time, which reflects a broader cultural interest in family life and the role of women in society. Parrocel was the son of a painter, and the scion of a veritable dynasty of artists. His own career was tied to the French Royal court and the Academy, and he specialized in military subjects. So, the choice of subject matter here may represent his attempt to broaden his appeal to a growing market for more intimate genre scenes. What are we to make of the woman pointing to something outside the frame? Is she an older relative or is she a servant? The role of art historians is to look to the visual evidence, historical documents and the artist’s biography to draw conclusions about such questions.