” … but the mother watches the sick child with serenity and holds his right arm reassuring him and giving us the feeling that everything will eventually be all right. In the drama, she stays, and affirms with her love that the disease cannot wipe out the goodness of life; as George Santaiana said: “He who loves says: ‘you will not perish’” … love and fellowship emerge as the human answer to the need of every sick man, affirming that man is made able to assist another man because he is certain that disease and death are not the last words over life.”
Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667) – “The sick child”, 1660-65 c.a., Oil on canvas, 32,2, x 27,2 cm., Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam