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DE Visita a la nodriza, Lecoeur-Morland. Postal, Francia 1900-1910
Dimensions: 142 x 93 mm.
Reproduction of a colour aquatint engraving by L. Lecoeur (1790-1810), after G. Morland. French engravings from the 18th century.
The image, repeated with the same or a similar title countless times in French painting from the 17th to the 19th century, expresses a drama which, although as old as humanity (a law in Hammurabi's code of 1800 BC already speaks of this theme), reached enormous proportions in Europe from the Renaissance onwards, but especially in France and Italy. It was a drama which, although as old as mankind (a law of the Code of Hammurabi of 1800 BC already speaks of this theme), reached enormous proportions in Europe from the Renaissance onwards, but especially in France and Italy: many children of the nobility first (16th century), then of the bourgeoisie (17th century) and finally (18th century) of the working classes in the cities were brought up by wet nurses, either in the family home or, when there were not enough financial resources, in the family home, in a village more or less distant from the city. Contracts were for two to three years, at the end of which, without many intermediate visits, the child returned to his or her parents.
In the picture, a child is desperately hugging his wet nurse (whom he is convinced is his mother), while looking very scared at the dolled-up lady, his biological mother (whom he knows little or nothing about), who has come to the wet nurse's village to visit him or to take him away because the contract has expired .......
Lactancia mercenaria. En la mayoría de las sociedades, muchas mujeres han evitado dar el pecho, confiando sus hijos a la crianza por parte de otras mujeres que recibían un pago por este servicio: las nodrizas o amas de cría. Es una práctica atestiguada desde hace 4.000 años (Código babilónico de Hammurabi), hasta hace unos 50 años, cuando ha sido casi totalmente desterrada por la alimentación con leche de vaca modificada.
Infant mortality under the wet-nurse system was very high: in the 18th century the infant mortality rate (deaths under one year of age per thousand live births) was 109 for children breastfed by their mothers, 170 for those breastfed by wet-nurses at home, 381 when the wet-nurse took them to breastfeed at home, and 500 to 910 for those fed by wet-nurses in the boarding house. This shows that the protection provided by breastfeeding depends not only on the physico-chemical and biological factors of the breastmilk itself, but also on the highly complex system of love, care and nutritional and immunological support provided by the phenomenon of breastfeeding.
The subject of wet nurses has generated countless images in painting, sculpture, illustrations and cartoons, as well as a wealth of literature.
Actualizado el: 15/01/2026
Reproduction of a colour aquatint engraving by L. Lecoeur (1790-1810), after G. Morland. French engravings from the 18th century.
The image, repeated with the same or a similar title countless times in French painting from the 17th to the 19th century, expresses a drama which, although as old as humanity (a law in Hammurabi's code of 1800 BC already speaks of this theme), reached enormous proportions in Europe from the Renaissance onwards, but especially in France and Italy. It was a drama which, although as old as mankind (a law of the Code of Hammurabi of 1800 BC already speaks of this theme), reached enormous proportions in Europe from the Renaissance onwards, but especially in France and Italy: many children of the nobility first (16th century), then of the bourgeoisie (17th century) and finally (18th century) of the working classes in the cities were brought up by wet nurses, either in the family home or, when there were not enough financial resources, in the family home, in a village more or less distant from the city. Contracts were for two to three years, at the end of which, without many intermediate visits, the child returned to his or her parents.
In the picture, a child is desperately hugging his wet nurse (whom he is convinced is his mother), while looking very scared at the dolled-up lady, his biological mother (whom he knows little or nothing about), who has come to the wet nurse's village to visit him or to take him away because the contract has expired .......
Lactancia mercenaria. En la mayoría de las sociedades, muchas mujeres han evitado dar el pecho, confiando sus hijos a la crianza por parte de otras mujeres que recibían un pago por este servicio: las nodrizas o amas de cría. Es una práctica atestiguada desde hace 4.000 años (Código babilónico de Hammurabi), hasta hace unos 50 años, cuando ha sido casi totalmente desterrada por la alimentación con leche de vaca modificada.
Infant mortality under the wet-nurse system was very high: in the 18th century the infant mortality rate (deaths under one year of age per thousand live births) was 109 for children breastfed by their mothers, 170 for those breastfed by wet-nurses at home, 381 when the wet-nurse took them to breastfeed at home, and 500 to 910 for those fed by wet-nurses in the boarding house. This shows that the protection provided by breastfeeding depends not only on the physico-chemical and biological factors of the breastmilk itself, but also on the highly complex system of love, care and nutritional and immunological support provided by the phenomenon of breastfeeding.
The subject of wet nurses has generated countless images in painting, sculpture, illustrations and cartoons, as well as a wealth of literature.