La Nourrice et l’enfant
De Greuze à Daumier
By combining cultural and art history with a detailed examination of the works, Emmanuelle Brugerolles and David Guillet shed light, in La Nourrice et l’enfant. De Greuze à Daumier, on a poignant subject and a little-known yet fascinating aspect of 18th- and 19th-century society.
The book
In the 18th century, as the family grew closer and the child took on a new role, the practice of placing children with wet nurses became widespread in France. Regulated from 1781 onwards by the Code des nourrices, this practice sparked debate and criticism, yet society was unable to truly abandon it.
From Greuze to Daumier, artists, engravers and writers took up this serious and poignant subject, revealing the moral and social tensions of the bourgeoisie.
The departure of the infant, the return of the weaned child, separation from the wet nurse and a painful, if not impossible, reunion with family members: it was Jean-Baptiste Greuze who, among the artists of the 18th century, best captured these family dramas, before the engravers and novelists of the following century – Grandville, then Daumier, Alphonse Daudet and Émile Zola – seized upon them unsparingly, in a renewed vein, that of the indictment or satire of bourgeois mores.
In La Nourrice et l’enfant. De Greuze à Daumier, Emmanuelle Brugerolles and David Guillet shed light on this little-known motif through precisely analysed and richly illustrated works.
The authors
Emmanuelle Brugerolles
General Curator of Heritage, Emmanuelle Brugerolles was in charge of the drawing collection at the Beaux-Arts de Paris from 1978 to 2022.
David Guillet
As a Senior Heritage Curator, David Guillet has served notably as administrator of the National Galleries of the Grand Palais, director of exhibitions and events at the BnF, deputy director of the Musée de l’Armée, and director of collections at the Château de Fontainebleau.
Among their joint publications are the catalogues for the international exhibitions Renaissance et maniérisme dans les écoles du Nord, Paris, Hambourg, 1984-1985 ; Le Dessin en France au xvie siècle, Paris, Cambridge, New York, 1994-1995 ; Le Dessin en France au xviie siècle, Paris, New York, 2001 ; Boucher et l’art rocaille dans les collections de l’École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, Sydney, 2003 ; Dessiner la lettre, écrire le dessin, Paris, 2021.
La Nourrice et l’enfant. De Greuze à Daumier
- ISBN: 978-2-84742-536-9
- Publication date: 11/09/2025
- Number of pages: 176
- Book dimensions: 19.7 × 25 cm
- Retail price: €35
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