Mme Gedon, 1869

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Portrait of Mme Gedon by Wilhelm Leibl, 1869

The portrait of the pregnant wife of architect Lorenz Gedon is a milestone in Franco-German artistic relationships. It earned Leibl praise from Courbet and in 1870 the gold medal of the Paris Salon.

I find it a rather creepy pregnancy portrait. Why is there a big moth on her bonnet? Aren’t moths a symbol of death? Or am I just traumatized by the film Silence of the Lambs? Well, the lady on the portrait does not look too happy in any case. Not how I imagine an expecting mother to be sure…

Via: Neue Pinakothek, WikiCommons

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