Berceuse (Woman Rocking a Cradle)

Of the five versions of this portrait of the wife of Van Gogh's best friend in Arles, the postmaster Roulin, this canvas was the one the sitter chose for herself. Vincent wrote to his brother Theo that "She had a good eye and took the best." Van Gogh began the group of portraits just prior to his breakdown at Arles, in December 1888, and completed them in the early months of 1889. (http://www.metmuseum.org)