The Greatest Mother in the World
Date1918
Artist
A. E. Foringer
(American poster artist, 1878–1948)
Illustration CitationWorld War I poster advertising the Red Cross
MediumCommercial lithograph
Dimensionssheet: 27 3/8 × 20 3/8 in. (69.5 × 51.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Joseph Bancroft, 1940
Object number1940-10.81
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPRINT
Label TextAppeals from the Red Cross multiplied as World War I dragged on, asking not only for money and supplies, but for women to join the cause as nurses. This poster, Foringer's most famous one, depicts a larger than life Red Cross Nurse cradling a small wounded soldier immobilized by a stretcher. The nurse’s pose, flowing gown, marmoreal face, and upward gaze, as well as the title, recall the Pieta: the Virgin Mary embracing the dead Christ. The allusion elevates the nurse to a divine role. 
