A curtain of white muslin falls over a cradle. Through it, you can just see a baby asleep, one tiny hand curled near her face. Her mother leans on the edge of the cradle, chin on her hand, watching. Her expression is hard to read: tender, tired, a little lost in thought.
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Berthe Morisot, The Cradle, 1872. Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Two sisters who wanted to paint
Berthe Morisot and her older sister Edma learned to paint together as girls in Paris. Both were gifted; both showed at the official Salon. Then Edma married a naval officer and, like most women of her time, gave up painting.
Berthe kept going. In this painting, it's Edma who watches over her newborn daughter, Blanche. Some people see in her face the quiet weight of everything a mother carries; others, simply love. Berthe, who knew her sister better than anyone, left it open.
The only woman in the room
In 1874, a group of rebellious artists organised their own exhibition in Paris, outside the official Salon. Critics would soon call them Impressionists. Berthe Morisot was the only woman among the exhibitors, and The Cradle was one of the paintings she showed.
She went on to exhibit in almost every Impressionist exhibition that followed.
Watching over someone
There's a particular kind of stillness in watching someone you love sleep. You don't need a cradle for this practice.
- Think of someone you care for: a child, a partner, a parent, a friend far away.
- Close your eyes and picture them resting, safe, somewhere warm.
- Imagine a soft veil, like the muslin in the painting, falling gently around them.
- Breathe slowly, and with each breath out, send them a simple wish: rest well.
- Before opening your eyes, place the same veil around yourself, and send yourself the same wish.
To share that feeling with someone, try writing a New Year's letter to someone you love, or read why painters loved women reading.
Something gentle for you
The First Letter is a short sensory meditation on receiving a letter, with a sample of our magazine "(meditating) On Art". It's free, and it's a gentle thing to give yourself.
Remember to take as much time as you need, and meet me at the next one.
Love, Evi