Oil paint on canvas
Tate Britain
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on display
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/ford-madox-brown-65" aria-label="More by Ford Madox Brown" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Ford Madox Brown</a>
Take your Son Sir
Presented by Miss Emily Sargent and Mrs Ormond in memory of their brother, John S. Sargent 1929
actions: expressive
adults
baby
Brown, Arthur
Brown, Emma
children
clothing and personal items
cot
domestic
drapery
family
family
father
furnishings
greeting
halo
illegitimacy
individuals: female
individuals: male
interiors
living room
male
man
marriage
mirror
mother and child
named individuals
nudes
objects
people
portraits
religion and belief
sex and relationships
smiling
social comment
society
son
supporting
universal religious imagery
woman
<p>This enigmatic picture shows the artist’s second wife, Emma, and their new-born son, Arthur Gabriel. The pose is reminiscent of a traditional Madonna and child but the mother’s strained expression suggests that this is not a conventional celebration of marriage and motherhood. The domestic details of the room are indicative of a contemporary-life subject in which the woman holds out the baby to her husband reflected in the mirror. Ford Madox Brown began the composition in 1851 and, although he worked on it over a number of years, abandoned it following the death of Arthur in 1857.</p><p><em>Gallery label, November 2016</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
12 July 2003 – 15 August 2004
2004-08-15
12 July 2003 – 28 September 2003
2003-09-28
2003-07-12
Art Gallery of Western Australia (Perth, Australia)
25 October 2003 – 15 February 2004
2004-02-15
2003-10-25
Dunedin Public Art Gallery (Dunedin, New Zealand)
http://www.dunedin.art.museum
14 May 2004 – 15 August 2004
2004-08-15
2004-05-14
Frist Center for the Visual Arts (Nashville, USA)
2003-07-12
The Pre-Raphaelite Dream: Paintings and Drawings from the Tate Collection
Tate partnerships & programmes
1 August 2005 – 30 July 2007
2007-07-30
1 August 2005
2005-08-01
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2005-08-01
The Pre-Raphaelites
Collection based display
10 August 2007 – 4 October 2010
2010-10-04
10 August 2007 – 4 October 2010
2010-10-04
2007-08-10
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2007-08-10
Pre-Raphaelites and Painters of the Ideal
Collection based display
26 February 2009 – 24 May 2009
2009-05-24
26 February 2009 – 24 May 2009
2009-05-24
2009-02-26
National Museum of Fine Arts (Stockholm, Sweden)
http://www.nationalmuseum.se
2009-02-26
The Pre-Raphaelites
Loan-out
24 September 2011 – 3 June 2012
2012-06-03
24 September 2011 – 29 January 2012
2012-01-29
2011-09-24
Manchester Art Gallery (Manchester, UK)
http://www.manchestergalleries.org
25 February 2012 – 3 June 2012
2012-06-03
2012-02-25
Museum voor Schone Kunsten (Ghent, Belgium)
http://www.gent.be/
2011-09-24
Ford Madox Brown: Pre-Raphaelite Pioneer
Loan-out
12 September 2012 – 31 January 2014
2014-01-31
12 September 2012 – 13 January 2013
2013-01-13
2012-09-12
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
17 February 2013 – 19 May 2013
2013-05-19
2013-02-17
National Gallery of Art (Washington DC, USA)
10 June 2013 – 22 September 2013
2013-09-22
2013-06-10
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia)
25 January 2014 – 6 April 2014
2014-04-06
2014-01-25
Mori Arts Centre (Tokyo, Japan)
19 April 2014 – 13 July 2014
2014-07-13
2014-04-19
Palazzo Chiablese (Turin, Italy)
2012-09-12
Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde
Exhibition
17 February 2013 – 31 August 2014
2014-08-31
17 February 2013 – 19 May 2013
2013-05-19
2013-02-17
National Gallery of Art (Washington DC, USA)
10 June 2013 – 13 October 2013
2013-10-13
2013-06-10
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia)
25 January 2014 – 6 April 2014
2014-04-06
2014-01-25
Mori Arts Centre (Tokyo, Japan)
19 April 2014 – 13 July 2014
2014-07-13
2014-04-19
Palazzo Chiablese (Turin, Italy)
2013-02-17
Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde
Loan-out
2 October 2017 – 2 April 2018
2018-04-02
2 October 2017 – 2 April 2018
2018-04-02
2017-10-02
National Gallery (London, UK)
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk
2017-10-02
Jan van Eyck and the Pre-Raphaelites
Loan-out
14 December 2018 – 19 September 2021
2021-09-19
14 December 2018 – 28 April 2019
2019-04-28
2018-12-14
National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australia)
19 June 2019 – 6 October 2019
2019-10-06
2019-06-19
Palazzo Reale (Milan, Italy)
13 May 2021 – 19 September 2021
2021-09-19
2021-05-13
Hungarian National Gallery (Budapest, Hungary)
2018-12-14
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Tate partnerships & programmes
‘Take your Son, Sir’
support: 705 × 381 mm
frame: 874 × 550 × 50 mm
Presented by Miss Emily Sargent and Mrs Ormond in memory of their brother, John S. Sargent 1929
<div class="text">
<p>Although the mirror looks like the halo of a traditional portrayal of the Madonna and Child, Ford Madox Brown sets this work in a modern interior. The woman is Emma Hill, who became Brown’s wife. The viewer is in the position of the artist reflected in the mirror. The mother’s unusual expression and way of holding her child are hard to interpret: Is she feeling happiness, or pain? Brown and Hill married after they had their first child and this is their second. Brown left the work unfinished when Arthur tragically died at 10 months old.</p>
</div>

Online caption
2023-11-29T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
actions: expressive adults baby Brown, Arthur Brown, Emma children clothing and personal items cot domestic drapery family family father furnishings greeting halo illegitimacy individuals: female individuals: male interiors living room male man marriage mirror mother and child named individuals nudes objects people portraits religion and belief sex and relationships smiling social comment society son supporting universal religious imagery woman