In this much idealized painting, Boilly portrays the emerging upper-class ideal of the affectionate, child-centered family in rural setting, continuing the Rousseau-inspired association of the countryside as a resevoir of virtue--and the city with corruption.

• Good Mother: Before us is a complex household of three generations under a single roof. In the background in front of the hearth--a central symbol of the home and the domestic sphere of women--tthe wife and mother suckles a child, while she looks on contentedly at her older children playing a game like paddy-cake.
• Good Father: There can be little doubt that the father--leaning in and wearing a cap--represents the new ideal of fatherhood: far from being distant and detached, his "natural" affection draws him close to his numerous brood; accordingly, his face radiates warmth and pride.
• The Good Grandfather Approves: the grandfather, sipping his wine, is of a generation in which romantic notions of affection were yet to emerge. Nonetheless, he too draws close to lend his approval to the heart-warming moment of adorable children at play.
• The Virtuous Daughter, hope for the future: at the center of all attention appears to be the eldest daughter, bathed in light and clothed in white--all composed to represent her maiden purity as well as her womanly readiness to bring forth and rear a new generation of children embued with her virtuous character.
• Benevolent Patriarchy: the composition of the central ensemble makes its point, too, marking the continued existence of patriarchal authority, with the grandfather at the summit of a pyramid of ages. This, however, is patriarchal authority of a new kind, the painting clearly suggests: one tempored by tenderness and affection.

This Painting Expresses the Upper-class "Family Values" of the Early Nineteeth Century, many of which were based on the ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In sum, families need to

• be close: grandparents, parents, children
• revere the home as their essential domestic space (haven in a heartless world)
• share mutual affection
• recognize and submit to the authority of men who deploy it wisely
• raise children of good moral character through the special attention of mothers who are naturally endowed with virtue