A young woman nursing a baby, was painted in 1868 by Dutch landscape painter, Jacob Maris. He was living in Paris when he painted this portrait of his wife Catharina Hendrika Horn breastfeeding their first baby, Guillaume [gee-um] who was born in April of 1868 and tragically died the following March.

Based on a pencil study of this painting, the National Gallery in London explains that unlike in the painting we see today, the original showed her exposed breast, nursing the baby. At some point it was covered up, but most certainly not by the artist himself.

More information, see the National Gallery’s website.

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