
“Italian Immigrant Kneeling with Child” by William-Adolphe Bouguereau is a striking piece of artwork. The first thing viewers of the painting notice is what appears to be a lifeless, naked baby in the arms of an unknown woman. In the woman’s hands she is clasping red prayer beads and has a mournful look on her face. The woman has her eyes looking upward and because she is obviously a religious woman some might speculate she is looking up towards God. The woman of the painting in kneeling on what looks like a marble floor with thick columns in the background which suggests a lavish building which could be a church. The artists signature can be found on one of the columns as well. In the background of the painting, hanging on the wall is the symbols of the seven sacraments as well as a baptism pool for babies.  Light is only coming from one side of the painting which casts a depressing shadow on the left side of the woman’s face. Overall, the tone of the painting is depressing as well as a little eerie and that connects with a theme of death. 

There is a great deal of symbolism present in “Italian Immigrant Kneeling with Child” painting. The red prayer beads in the woman’s hands, also known as a rosary, are common in the catholic religion, which gives the painting a religious undertone. The picture in the background, after further research, appears to be a representation of the Seven Sacraments.  The seven sacraments include baptism, penance, confirmation, holy orders, the Eucharist, matrimony, and anointing of the sick. This along with the baptism pool in the background symbolizes that the baby in the woman’s arms may have been getting ready for a baptism. Contrary to that, the fact that the baby was naked instead of in the ritual white robe of babies about to get baptized makes the viewer think that possibly the baby did not make it to the baptism. The fact that there is a shadow on half the woman’s face symbolizes heaven and hell. The part of her face looking upward towards God is illuminated in light while the part of her face turned downward is cast in a shadow. The baby is laying with its eyes closed and hand open representing death.

The look on the woman’s face can only be described as despair. She is clinging to the body of the body of the child which indicates the child might have been hers. The baby being naked and not clothed in traditional baptism garments leads the viewer to believe the baby did not get baptized before death. The woman kneeling looks to be praying for the soul of her baby, because as Catholics believe, if a person dies before being baptized, then they cannot enter heaven and must reside in Hell. She seems to have brought her baby into the church to see if his soul could be saved.

The painting is laid out in a very specific way. The woman and baby are in the direct center of the painting indicating that they are the intended subjects of the piece. Everything in the painting is in focus which means that every object William-Adolphe Bouguereau painted in the piece is supposed to support the main subjects which are the woman and baby. The objects painted in the background help show the setting of the painting which is a church. The time period in which the woman and baby are in is also supported by both the objects in the background of the painting, and the clothing that the woman holding the baby is wearing.

The artist, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, used a realistic style to paint this painting sometime between 1825 to 1905. Due to the realistic nature of this painting it almost looks as if it could be a photograph because of the proper proportions of the objects and people in the painting. This allows the viewers of the painting to have a deeper connection with the woman in the painting. Because the pain on the woman’s face looks so real it allows the pain to be captured by the viewers. The baby does appear to be larger than normal babies are suggesting that he is a major part of the meaning behind the painting. 

The reasons Bouguereau painted the “Italian Immigrant Kneeling with Child” could be endless. The fact that the painting appears to be a woman in mourning over her dead child fearing that the baby’s soul is destined for hell could be a message to the Catholic church. Bouguereau painted the painting in order to get the message across that the Catholic church’s baptism policy is too harsh. This opinion coming from a painter during this time period would have been extremely controversial. In order for Bouguereau to get his point across to his viewers he used an object that any person would feel sorry for and that is an innocent child. No person can say that a child did anything to deserve Hell which is why the artist included that in his public outcry against the catholic church. The despair of the mother also speaks to viewers of the painting as well.