1/internal/media/dispatcher/3814/fullThe Evil Mothers1894[Giovanni Segantini]Giovanni SegantiniOil on canvasA young woman is in the midst of an icy landscape. A child is suckling from her breast and she is entangled in the branches of a tree. Her head turned to the side, her back arched, the mother is struggling against the infant with all her might. In this barren mountain world, Giovanni Segantini is showing us the fate of women who surrender themselves to desire but refuse to accept motherhood. As punishment these mothers had to endure “the castigations of purgatory,” as the painter himself put it when referring to his moralizing image. The women had no choice other than to accept their fate and thus find redemption. In the background these reformed mothers can be seen dancing with their children toward the mountains.Paintinghttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/6224/rdf