Sorolla’s 1895 painting “Mother” and the medical advice of the time on infant sleep

The Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla marked the birth of his daughter in 1895 with the painting "Mother", in a light palette, where against white walls, coverlets and pillows only the heads of his wife Clotilde and the newborn Elena stand out. The painting is considered one of Sorolla's principal masterpieces; he worked on it for 5 years.

As for the infant's position, even at that time there were recommendations not to leave a child to sleep in the same bed as its mother, because of the risks to the tiny organism. Doctors advised cots without pillows, without soft toys, without blankets, with only a firm mattress, on which the child should sleep on its back, in nothing but a nappy