\paperw19995 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 As a place for family intimacy, affections and repose, the home was often the setting artists preferred to represent scenes
from daily life. The theme became a pretext for the detailed depiction of furnishings and objects, with innovative and skillful perspectives that focus on the scene. In contrast to formal history painting, an intimate and subdued tone held sway and was u
sed to recount events of minor importance. Instead of grand passions and heroic virtues, these paintings set out to illustrate simple and genuine feelings such as maternal love, or the thrill of a secret kiss. The undisputed protagonists of these intimat
e and secluded worlds were women and children, who spent more of their time within the home than did men. The representation of everyday life also characterized the work of academic artists, who chose to set similar scenes in the Greco-Roman world.
