Fraternal Love

Fraternal Love shows a seated woman in a muted headscarf and a rich blue-green dress, tenderly watching over two naked children who lean toward each other. The dark-haired child stands on the ground while the blond child sits in her lap, their faces and hands almost meeting in a gentle, intimate kiss, framed by a soft garden setting with subdued foliage. The painting features soft, evenly distributed light, a cool palette of blues and greens, and highly finished, precise brushwork typical of Bouguereau’s academic classical style.