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Doting Dad Recreates Famous Paintings With His Newborn Daughter as the Subject

By Emma Taggart on March 24, 2021

Welcoming a child into the family is a momentous occasion, and many parents choose to commemorate their baby's first months with a photoshoot. Brazilian visual artist Lucas de Ouro decided to do just this—but with an art-historical twist. Rather than hire a photographer to take traditional newborn photos, the adoring dad recreated famous paintings with his now 18-month-old daughter Letícia as the subject.

De Ouro was inspired by three iconic works from history: Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer, and Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr. Eloesser by Frida Kahlo. From his daughter’s costumes to the photo backgrounds, each reimagined image is full of details that match the original painting. The only difference is that little Letícia takes the place of all of the famous faces.

Photographed while she’s sleeping, peaceful Letícia looks as picture-perfect as a painting. In the recreation of Kahlo’s self-portrait, the tiny baby wears her iconic flower crown and a hand-shaped earring. In the Da Vinci-inspired piece, a cute pout replaces Mona Lisa’s famous smile. In the retouch of Girl with a Pearl Earring, Letícia wears the subject’s navy blue headband, brown shawl, and of course, the famous pearl earring.

De Ouro had to get creative with some of his edits to account for the age difference between the subjects. In the case of the Mona Lisa-inspired image, he writes on Instagram (translated), “I spent some fun hours in post-production of this image and tried to get very close to the tones of the painting.” He adds, “The secret of a photo like this is the details and the big trick was to darken the veil, because Letícia still doesn't have that hair, right?!”

Check out the adorable series below.