“What Child Is This? (Madonna and Child)”

Since I was a child, I'd always been pulled in by paintings depicting the Madonna and Child. Long ago, I promised myself that I'd take a stab at religious motifs when my skill could only pose a compliment to the subject. This painting is based on a french postcard from the turn of the century. It was the practice of many photographers at the time to hire prostitutes for these commercial photographs. Given that, I wondered if this was indeed the woman's child. The closeness seems too natural to be staged. And did the child grow up knowing his father or had he been forsaken?