A Girl Caressing a Child

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'A Girl Caressing a Child' is the name of a group sculpture by the Irish sculptor James Heffernan (1785-1874). The work, depicting a young woman tending for a young boy, could be read as a warning on young motherhood. The exposed breast of the pubescent girl suggests that she is nursing the child, though it could also have been shown for the viewer's pleasure in a society which actively suppressed women. The girl is not given the status as a mother as such, and because of this gives a darker narrative of a parting embrace.