Roma Woman With Baby (1919)

Description

Amedeo Modigliani’s Roma Woman with Baby, painted in 1919, presents a mother holding her child within a compact seated arrangement. The wrapped infant lies diagonally across her lap, beneath the long, dark-haired face. A white jacket with red trim contrasts with blue-green clothing, while the gray background leaves the pair clearly defined. The composition makes the relationship between the two figures its principal subject.

Modigliani makes the pose feel enclosed through the meeting of arms, fabric and the small body held close. The mother’s elongated features and simplified contours remain distinct from the stronger color divisions in her clothing. These different elements keep the portrait from becoming merely a study of costume. Attention returns to the relationship between the two figures, whose closeness supplies the painting’s emotional center. The muted background lets that relationship remain the principal event of the image.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Amedeo Modigliani collection.