The painting Cornelia Pointing to Her Children as Her Treasures by Angelica Kauffmann and The Village Bride by Jean-Baptist Greuze are two very different paintings from the neoclassical period of art. In each painting however the same overall idea of family and family values is displayed by each artist in his/her own artistic style. Each painting portrays a certain aspect of family life, and through each image the viewer gets a glimpse into the ideas, values and morals these people are dealing with. Through composition, color and space Angelica Kauffmann displays a scene of calmness and love between the mother and her children, while Jean-Baptist Greuze creates a scene of grim chaos between the two families in the painting. .
The painting by Angelica Kauffmann is composed of a mother and her three children and their visitor who is sitting in the chair next to them. The visitor is showing off her jewels to Cornelia as her daughter reaches for some jewels from the jewelry box. Through this painting Cornelia displays that her children are her jewels and her prized possessions by extending her hand in the direction of her two sons to her right. The mother has a look of pride on her face, and her children seem content and very well taken care of. The visitor has a slight sense of confusion on her face as if she is trying to understand how family can be worth more then jewels. The figures seem almost frozen in their positions, making the viewer feel like an outsider looking in. The children show love for one another and their mother by either holding each other's hands or holding the mother's hand. Angelica Kauffmann doesn't put a lot of detail into this painting because the idea she is trying to express is simple and true. A mother's job is to value her children and her family more than anything else, and that is exactly what this painting is trying to convey to the viewer though the composition.