Henry Nelson O'Neil

 

Henry Nelson O’Neil

O’Neil worked predominately with historical and literary genres within the mid 1850’s. The painting ‘A Mother Depositing Her Child at the Foundling Hospital in Paris’ depicts ‘the Foundling Hospital (L’ Hopital des Enfants-Trouves) in Paris.’ Where it was ‘established by royal edict in 1670 during the reign of Louis XIV. The Paris Hospital differed in many respects from its London counterpart. It has a different admission system whereby mothers were not required to bring their children to the Hospital but could abandon them in a public place or, as illustrated in this picture, leave them at the Hospital gate.’ [1]

The painting reminded me of Gaskell’s character and the similarities of the various struggles women underwent in the 19^th century.

Henry Nelson O'Neil, ‘A Mother Depositing Her Child at the Foundling Hospital in Paris’, Artuk, [accessed 13 September 2022] 

 

 

 

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[1] Artuk, ‘A Mother Depositing Her Child at the Foundling Hospital in Paris’, artuk.org, [accessed 13 September 2022].