Claude and Renée

With its soft golden tones, pastel-like texture and sculptural form, this double portrait is a fine example of Renoir’s late style. Dressed in a white bonnet, Claude Renoir – called Clo-Clo by his parents – is held by his seventeen-year-old nurse, Renée Jolivet. While it represents an intimate moment of domesticity in Renoir’s household, the pose also recalls the traditional Christian theme of the Virgin and Child.