A birth-scene. Oil painting by a French (?) painter, 1800.

Unknown artist

A childbirth-scene. Oil painting by a French (?) painter, Åbo, Sweden (later Turku, Finland), 1800. The proud father is on the left, the woman giving birth is in the centre, and on the right is a caricature of a midwife or wisewoman. The standing figure pouring water into a bowl may be a personification of Hygiene, as a similar figure appears on a Wedgwood plaque of the goddess Hygieia. At the same time she is the maid who is preparing to wash the baby. The furniture is of an advanced neo-classical type: it would be slightly surprising if such furniture were in Åbo at the time. The painting may be by a French painter in Sweden.