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What does this portrait suggest about eighteenth-century attitudes toward the family?

Image of Cadwalader and his family.  Image has five links that are discussed in the text below. highlight of Cadwalader highlight of Cadwalader giving his child a peach highlight of Cadwalader's child highlight of Elizabeth Lloyd looking at her husband.  The painting includes the entire family and this marks a shift from earlier conventions where artists depicted only husband, or husband and wife painted separately.

1. Cadwalader's posture and gaze signify a change from portrait conventions of the seventeenth and early eighteenth century: he leans toward his wife and he interacts with his child.

2. The father offers the child a peach, perhaps intended as a symbol of nourishment and nurturance.

3. Anne looks like a child and not like a little adult, which was typical in portraits earlier in the century. She is an active presence in the scene.

4. Elizabeth Lloyd gazes lovingly at her husband. The painting includes the entire family and this marks a shift from earlier conventions where artists depicted only husband, or husband and wife painted separately.


Something More

Title: Portrait of John and Elizabeth Lloyd Cadwalader and Their Daughter Anne
Artist: Peale, Charles Willson (American, 1741-1827)
Photo Credit: Graydon Wood, 1996
Date: 1772


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