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Rousseau’s call for greater parental involvement in eighteenth-century child rearing resulted in a reaction against customs such as wet nursing and the sending of children to boarding schools. The present picture is a pictorial admonition against such practices, which could be seen as an abnegation of maternal responsibility. Here a mother is visiting her daughter at boarding school, but the girl is clearly hesitant to see her, while the mother does not even rise from her chair to greet her child. The painting was paired with a similarly cool depiction of a 'Visit to the Child at Nurse' (Christie’s, London, 11 April 1980), which showed the same mother visiting her daughter when an infant.

The Wallace Collection

London

Title

A Visit to the Boarding School

Date

c.1788

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 61.7 x W 74.7 cm

Accession number

P574

Acquisition method

acquired by Sir Richard Wallace, 1873; bequeathed to the nation by Lady Wallace, 1897

Work type

Painting

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The Wallace Collection

Hertford House, Manchester Square, London, Greater London W1U 3BN England

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