Madame Roulin Rocking the Cradle (La berceuse)

Madame Roulin Rocking the Cradle (La berceuse) by Vincent van Gogh: Vincent van Gogh saw in Augustine Roulin—along with her husband, Joseph, and their children…

What to notice

Begin with Madame Roulin’s hands and the cradle rope, then move into the flowered wallpaper; repeated curves turn rocking into a visual rhythm around her.

Discover

Vincent van Gogh saw in Augustine Roulin—along with her husband, Joseph, and their children—a model of love and family life. In this portrait, Roulin rocks a cradle by pulling on a rope. The title La Berceuse (the lullaby) suggests a consoling figure, and the artist described his palette as a soothing “lullaby in colors.” Van Gogh painted five versions of this image. He completed this one in January 1889, soon after returning from his stay in the hospital following Paul Gauguin’s fraught departure. Madame Roulin s…