Jean-Baptiste Greuze

Anonymous sale, Zurich, Schuler Auktionen, 22 September 2023, lot 3143 (as Follower of Greuze);

Where acquired by the present owner.

Possibly C. Mauclair, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Paris 1905, p. 46, cat. no. 684.

Unmatched in his ability to capture emotion in a realistic and empathetic sense, Greuze often painted close-up, expressive studies of heads, or têtes d'expression, to later incorporate in his larger compositions. In the 1790s, Greuze executed a series of bust-length studies in preparation for his Saint Mary of Egypt, a work of heroic proportions commissioned by Lucien Bonaparte and today in the Chrysler Museum.¹ The present painting likely served as a preparatory oil study for a second, earlier version of the Chrysler picture, now lost, in which Greuze depicted the fifth-century saint with blonde rather than brunette tresses.

¹ Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Saint Mary of Egypt. Norfolk, Chrysler Museum, inv. no. 71.652.