'You didn't think it was so pretty, did you?'

Grayscale illustration of a woman showing her baby to an old man in a small outbuilding. They sit in the straw, livestock wander the landscape behind.

In a small outbuilding on a Florentine hillside, Baldassarre sits on the straw with a bowl in his hands as Tessa kneels before him, holding up her baby. When she proudly shows the child and speaks of her simple happiness, the intimate scene softens Baldassarre’s bitterness and awakens his pity for her innocent life.

"'This is my baby,' said Tessa, seating herself close to Baldassarre. 'You didn't think it was so pretty, did you? It is like the little Gesu, and I should think the Santa Madonna would be kinder to me now, is it not true? But I have not much to ask for, because I have everything now-only that I should see my husband oftener. You may hold the bambino a little if you like, but I think you must not kiss him, because you might hurt him" ("Baldassarre Makes an Acquaintance", Chapter 33).

Leighton, Frederic (1830-1896)

Swain, Joseph (1820-1909), engraver

George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org

1863, 1880

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Leighton, Frederic (1830-1896), 'You didn't think it was so pretty, did you?', George Eliot Illustrations Gallery, George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/83591