Renoir met Aline Charigot, a young dressmaker of 20 years old then, in 1879, when the artist was nearly 40.
Aline's father was a wine grower from Essoyes, a small village in the province of Champagne. Alina's mother was also a dressmaker.
When Aline was 15 months, her father left for America, her mother found a job somewhere far from Essoyes. Aline lived with her uncle and aunt until her mother moved to Paris in 1872. Two years later Aline joined her and started working as a dressmaker.