In this artwork, how is the Description discussed?
The genre painting depicts a mother bathing a young child: an everyday scene that is "special by not being special". It is signed to the lower left "Mary Cassatt".
The woman is sitting on an oriental carpet, with the child on her knees.  The child has a white cloth swathed around its abdomen, and the woman is wearing a dress with strong vertical stripes of green, pink and white.  The woman holds the infant firmly and protectively around its waist with her left hand while the other hand carefully washes the child's bare limbs in a basin of water, resting on the floor beside a jug decorated with a floral pattern. The chubby left arm of the child braces against the mother's leg, while its other hand grips the child's own right thigh. The mother's right hand presses firmly but still gently on the child's right foot in the basin, mimicking the child's own pressure on her thigh.  In the background are floral patterns of painted furniture and wallpaper.
To indicate depth, Cassatt painted the faces receding into space. The paint strokes are layered and rough, creating thick lines that outline the figures and make them stand out from the patterned background. The hand of the artist is evident through the roughness of the strokes.
oriental carpet genre painting Mary Cassatt