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/frederic-george-stephens-524" aria-label="More by Frederic George Stephens" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Frederic George Stephens</a>
Mother and Child
Bequeathed by H.F. Stephens 1932
actions: expressive
actions: postures and motions
adults
animal
animals: mammals
architecture
birth to death
Britain - lion
chair
child
children
comforting
countries
Crimean War, 1853-6
doll
domestic
emotions and human qualities
emotions, concepts and ideas
family
features
fireplace
furnishings
grief
heating and lighting
history
horse
individuals: female
interiors
leisure and pastimes
letter
lion
living room
mantelpiece
military
Miller, Annie
mirror
mother and child
mourning
named individuals
objects
ornament
people
portraits
reading
reading, writing, printed matter
recreational activities
shock
sitting
society
symbols and personifications
toy
toys and models
woman
<p>Stephens painted this in the first year of the Crimean War (1853-6) and the major world event plays out in the setting of a Victorian nursery. The child pauses playing to reach towards his mother as she reacts to a letter which brings bad news from the conflict. Stephens encloses the figures in a curved frame like a traditional Madonna and Child and employs everyday objects, such as the military toys, as symbols. Stephen’s extremely detailed Pre-Raphaelite style was time-consuming and the picture was never finished.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2018</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
12 September 2012 – 31 January 2014
2014-01-31
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
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
Mother and Child
support: 470 × 641 mm
frame: 680 × 842 × 56 mm
Bequeathed by H.F. Stephens 1932
<div class="text">
<p>Frederic Stephens persuaded the Pre-Raphaelite model Annie Miller (seen in Awakening Conscience), to sit for his modern version of a Biblical Madonna and Child. Stephens introduced tragedy with clues about the Crimean War (1853–56). The child stops playing with his military toys to reach towards his mother as she reacts to a letter bringing bad news from the conflict. Stephens never finished the picture.</p>
</div>

Online caption
2023-11-29T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
actions: expressive actions: postures and motions adults animal animals: mammals architecture birth to death Britain - lion chair child children comforting countries Crimean War, 1853-6 doll domestic emotions and human qualities emotions, concepts and ideas family features fireplace furnishings grief heating and lighting history horse individuals: female interiors leisure and pastimes letter lion living room mantelpiece military Miller, Annie mirror mother and child mourning named individuals objects ornament people portraits reading reading, writing, printed matter recreational activities shock sitting society symbols and personifications toy toys and models woman