Saint Joseph with Infant Jesus by Guido Reni, circa 1635
Happy Fathers Days! I wanted to share some historic works of art celebrating fathers and their relationships with their children.
The painting above, "Saint Joseph with Infant Jesus" by Guido Reni, is the first that comes to mind. Every time I see it in the Hermitage Museum I am touched by the affection in the old man's face (St Joseph), and the curiosity with which the infant (baby Jesus) is touching his beard. There is something very natural about the way the baby interacts with the man, which makes this painting similar to Mary Cassatt's images of women with their children.
Although there are countless images of mothers in western art, there was only one other painting of a father that came to mind; so I decided to do a quick google search to find more. The results were disappointing and creepy. "Saturn Devouring his Son" by Goya, depicting a father killing and devouring his own child; "Roman Charity" by Rubens, depicting a woman breastfeeding her own elderly father to save him from death (OK not his fault but still...). Rembrandt's "Sacrifice of Isaac", depicting an attempted murder of Isaac's own son. "Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan" by Ilya Repin - another murder story... And a whole bunch of Old Testaments illustrations which I will not mention here. To put it gently, the message the western art is sending is that the relationships between fathers and their children are complicated.
The painting above, "Saint Joseph with Infant Jesus" by Guido Reni, is the first that comes to mind. Every time I see it in the Hermitage Museum I am touched by the affection in the old man's face (St Joseph), and the curiosity with which the infant (baby Jesus) is touching his beard. There is something very natural about the way the baby interacts with the man, which makes this painting similar to Mary Cassatt's images of women with their children.
Although there are countless images of mothers in western art, there was only one other painting of a father that came to mind; so I decided to do a quick google search to find more. The results were disappointing and creepy. "Saturn Devouring his Son" by Goya, depicting a father killing and devouring his own child; "Roman Charity" by Rubens, depicting a woman breastfeeding her own elderly father to save him from death (OK not his fault but still...). Rembrandt's "Sacrifice of Isaac", depicting an attempted murder of Isaac's own son. "Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan" by Ilya Repin - another murder story... And a whole bunch of Old Testaments illustrations which I will not mention here. To put it gently, the message the western art is sending is that the relationships between fathers and their children are complicated.
Besides "St Joseph with Infant Jesus" by Guido Reni (above), my original list of paintings celebrating relationships between fathers and children included "The Return of the Prodigal Son" by Rembrandt, also in the Hermitage Museum. The famous painting is depicting the moment of the prodigal son's return to his forgiving father.
The Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt, c.1661-1669
Eventually I had some luck. "Self-Portrait with Angelica and Portrait of Rachel" by Americal painter Charles Willson Peale at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston is just lovely. An artist father and his daughter, who is following in her father's footsteps to become a painter herself. The artist's wife is present through the portrait he is working on. Charles Willson Peale was married three times (his first and second wives died) and had eighteen children, many of them became artists, including his daughters (I found this extensive article about Charles Peale and his family very interesting).
Self-Portrait with Angelica and Portrait of Rachel by Charles Willson Peale, 1782-1785
.Here is a more recent painting inspired by Abraham Lincoln, "Father and Son" painted by Lewis A. Ramsey in 1930.
Father and Son by Lewis A Ramsey, 1930
A family portrait is a genre that often depicts men with their families; however only a few of these portraits show any affection, or at least an interaction, between fathers and children. Here are some pleasant exceptions by the Flemish and Dutch masters.
The Artist with his Family by Cornelis de Vos, 1621
Anthony Reyniers and Family by Cornelis de Vos, 1631
Anthony Reyniers and Family. DETAIL
Michiel van der Dussen and His Family by Hendrick Cornelisz.van Vliet, 1640
Of course most male painters were fathers, and many of them created portraits of their children, as it is a common way for artists to express their love for their family. However fatherhood as a theme, the relationship between fathers and their children was rarely a subject of paintings in the Western art of the past centuries. Here are a few examples that do celebrate fatherhood.
If you have any other examples of historic paintings depicting fathers, please share in the comments!
If you have any other examples of historic paintings depicting fathers, please share in the comments!