Jean-Baptiste Greuze

Jean-Baptiste Greuze painted aristocrats and actresses, but this animated subject is likely his wife, Anne-Gabrielle Babuti, whose features recurred in his paintings and drawings during the early years of their marriage. She often modeled for him as a country girl, but here her sparkling eyes and parted lips project intimacy and sophistication. Dressed in brocaded blue silk, a bow at her neck and a sparkling ornament in her lightly powdered hair, she models her appearance after Madame de Pompadour, King Louis XV’s mistress. Greuze may have been making a reference to his wife’s social aspirations.