Frans FLORIS (Antwerp, circa 1519 - 1570) Maternity Oil on panel, one board, parqueted Maternity, oil on panel, by F. Floris 17.12 x 13.18 in. 43.5 x 33.5 cm Provenance: Anonymous sale; Neuilly, Pavillon Royal, Me Ionesco, 11 November 1990, no. 6 : Anonymous sale; Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Mes Ader & Tajan, 1st July 1994, n° 20 (bought 20 805 Frs) ; Acquired at this sale by the current owner's father; Private collection, Paris Exhibitions: L'Enfance, Paris, galerie Charpentier, 1949, n° 88 While the depiction of breastfeeding in Flemish painting of the 16th century generally deals with bringing a child to nurse<a href="about:blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[1]</a>, it is rarer to observe a scene of maternal breastfeeding. With this lactation, Floris delivers a scene full of tenderness. In a debauchery of skin tones, the bodies of the child and the mother merge, revealing that the flesh of the former proceeds from that of the latter. The angular face of the nursing mother is characteristic of the Mannerist drawing by Frans Floris, whose Italian influences earned him the nickname 'Flemish Raphael'. By comparing our composition with the Sainte Parenté in the Musée national d'art et d'histoire du Luxembourg, we can suggest that it is probably a representation of Saint Anne suckling Mary2. 1. Emmanuelle Brugerolles, David Guillet, La Nourrice et l'Enfant, De Greuze à Daumier, Paris, 2025, p. 22 2. The two figures in our painting appear on a larger panel representing the Holy Kinship: Frans Floris, The Holy Kinship, 1555, oil on panel, 138 x 161 cm, Luxembourg, Musée National d'Art et Histoire (2010-064/001). Another version of our composition went on sale in 1999: Frans Floris, Moïse allaité par sa Mère, oil on panel, 97 x 90 cm, Anonymous sale; London, Christie's, 17 December 1999, no. 27. Frans FLORIS (Antwerp, circa 1519 - 1570) 43.5 x 33.5 cm