,frontispiece3 ,,innocence4             
,bell's ,miniature ,series of ,painters 
,,greuze      ,,by      ,,harold        
,,armitage          ,,london    ,,george
 ,,bell  ,,sons    #aijb          v     
,,preface    ,although ,paris1 during   
the eighteenth century1 became the home 
of  artists of more subtle genius than  
,greuze1 yet the pictures of no  other  
painter of that alluring period have    
become so familiar to the  people of our
 own country4  ,engravings1 etchings1   
photographs1 and  reproductions in      
colour of the works of ,greuze abound on
 every hand2  but many have admired the 
art who have not known so much as the   
name  of the artist1 and more have known
 his name1 and have still been far  from
 any knowledge of the story of his life4
    ,indeed1 though brief narrations of 
what ,greuze did and suffered in  this  
world have appeared in volumes that have
 contained also the  biographies of     
other artists1 no book1 in this country1
 has been  devoted solely to an account 

of his romantic career4  ,moreover1 the 
addition of twenty-one of the works of  
,greuze to the possessions of  the      
,british nation by the bequest of the   
,wallace ,collection1 and the           
exhibition of nine more at the ,art     
,gallery of the ,corporation of  ,london
 in #aijb1 must have awakened curiosity 
concerning a painter  whose peculiar    
place in the evolution of art in        
,france1 vi whose  character1 and whose 
eventful life1 make his history         
interesting  alike to those who delight 
in pictures and to those who read       
biography for its own sake4    ,the     
author hopes that this volume will make 
more available than it  has hitherto    
been an account of the principal        
happenings in the story  of an artist   
with whose charming pictures the world  
has been for many  years so intimately  
acquainted4          vii    ,,table ,,of
 ,,contents      ,early ,years    ,fame 
in ,paris    ,poverty and ,death        
,romance and ,tragedy    ,personal      

,characteristics    ,characteristics of 
his ,work    ,position in ,french ,art  
,our ,illustrations    ,the ,chief      
,works of ,greuze          viii         
,,list ,,of ,,illustrations             
,innocence 444 ,frontispiece    ,the    
,village ,bride 7,l',accorde de         
,village7    ,the ,pretty ,laundress    
7,la ,belle ,blanchisseuse7    ,the     
,listening ,girl    ,the ,kiss 7,le     
,baiser ,jet7    ,portrait of           
,robespierre    ,the ,broken ,pitcher   
7,la ,cruche ,casse7    ,the ,milkmaid  
7,la ,laitire7          #a    ,,life    
,,of ,,greuze        ,,early ,,years    
,the way of life in which ,jean         
,baptiste ,greuze spent his childhood   
and  his youth was not different from   
that of most other artists4  ,his       
parents were obscure people1 who had no 
riches2 and his father  opposed his     
desire to be a painter4    ,for many    
years1 even his own countrymen who wrote
 of ,greuze1 gave the  date of his birth
 any time between #agbe and #agcb2 but  

it is known now  that the accurate date 
is ,august #ba1 #agbe1 the one which has
 since  been inscribed on the modest    
house in ,tournus1 near ,mcon1 where his
  father and mother were living when the
 artist was born4    ,by the time that  
,greuze was eight years of age he had   
manifested a  strong inclination towards
 the use of the pencil4  ,drawing became
 his  chief amusement2 and he employed1 
indifferently1 stray pieces of  paper1  
or whitewashed walls1 for the display of
 his draughtsmanship4  ,his father1 as  
the way of fathers is1 had planned for  
his son a  position more exalted than   
his own in an occupation with which he  
himself was connected4  ,the elder      
,greuze was #b a kind of provincial     
builder1 contractor1 and slater2 and he 
wished the younger ,greuze to  become an
 architect4    ,although it is not      
apparent why an architect1 who to-day   
undergoes  severe discipline in drawing1
 should be the worse because he had a   
propensity for sketching1 it has yet    

been stated by some of the  biographers 
of ,greuze that the father used         
persuasions and threats to  prevent the 
son from making drawings1 and that the  
boy was thereby  driven to the device of
 exercising his skill surreptitiously in
 his  bedroom4    ,but a day came when  
the father saw the folly of his         
continued  resistance4  ,mistaking for  
an engraving a head of ,st4  ,james     
which  his son had copied with a pen1   
that he might give it to his father as  
a birthday present1 the elder ,greuze   
was so much impressed by the  skill of  
the lad that he thought it better after 
all to allow him to  have his own way in
 the choice of a profession2 and ,greuze
 therefore  became the pupil of         
,grandon1 of ,lyons1 a portrait painter4
    ,in ,grandon's constitution the     
artist was subservient to the man of    
affairs2 and ,de ,goncourt has written  
that his studio was a veritable  picture
 factory4  ,greuze1 however1 had more   
elevated notions of the  vocation of an 

artist than to remain content in marking
 time for the  rest of his life as a    
sort of inglorious piece-worker1 and his
  ambition and self-confidence urged him
 to ,paris1 where he believed  his      
powers would win for him both fame and  
fortune4    #c    ,in ,paris ,greuze    
worked unobtrusively1 often in solitude1
 and earned a  precarious livelihood1   
possibly not without invoking the aid of
 some  of the methods of the master whom
 he had left in ,lyons4  ,he was not    
immediately successful1 and his chance  
of triumphing over the  obstacles which 
beset a raw youth from the provinces1   
seeking fame in  ,paris1 seemed to be   
but a remote one4  ,yet ,pigalle1 the   
king's  sculptor1 believing that ,greuze
 had the qualities which win success    
ultimately1 encouraged the painter to   
persevere4    ,greuze had1 or fancied he
 had1 to contend against the hostility  
and  the jealousy of the other artists4 
,at the ,academy1 where he went to      
draw1 he received less consideration    

than his ability merited1 and he        
complained eventually to the artist     
,silvestre1 to whom also he showed  some
 specimens of his work4  ,silvestre1    
admiring his skill1 wished to  have his 
portrait painted by ,greuze1 and as     
,silvestre was a man of  some influence1
 this commission was the means of making
 ,greuze's name  more widely known4     
,about this time1 too1 ,greuze attracted
 attention  by one of his               
representations of scenes from the life 
of humbler folk  than were usually seen 
in pictures during that period4  ,this  
painting  was ,l',aveugle ,tromp1 and   
,greuze was made agr of the ,academy on 
,june #bh1 #agee1 either by the good    
offices of ,silvestre or of ,pigalle1   
and thus acquired the right to exhibit  
his pictures at the annual  exhibitions4
          #d    ,,fame ,,in ,,paris     
,popular as was this picture of         
,l',aveugle ,tromp1 its success was     
eclipsed by the fame of ,un ,pre de     
,famille qui lit la ,bible  ses         

,enfants1 a work which advanced ,greuze 
to the front rank of the  leading       
painters of that time4  ,even when one  
remembers that this is  a better picture
 than many which he painted afterwards1 
it is yet not  easy to-day to understand
 the enthusiasm that it caused when it  
was  first exhibited4  ,one reason for  
our difficulty is that we do not  feel  
the force of its novelty as the people  
of ,paris felt it when  they had become 
satiated with the painted pastorals1    
allegories1 and  coquetries of that     
voluptuous era4    ,the picture1        
pleasing as a whole1 contains           
indications of the  tendency towards    
artificiality which afterwards became so
 marked in  many of ,greuze's           
melodramatic paintings4  ,but for the   
rest the scene  is nature in a mirror   
compared with other canvases of the same
  century4  ,the painter has represented
 the interior of a farm kitchen1  and a 
devout and venerable farmer reads1 from 
a large ,bible1 some  chapters of the   

,new ,testament to the other members of 
the household4  ,all these1 from the    
grandmother to the child of three years1
 are  picturesque and pleasing1 and they
 are happily placed in the picture4     
,this work was bought by ,monsieur de la
 ,live de ,jully1 a rich  connoisseur1  
who invited artists and others          
interested in painting to  go to his    
house1 to see #e the new kind of picture
 which ,greuze had  introduced into     
,paris4    ,even from artists and       
critics the picture won a generous meed 
of  praise2 but1 containing as it does  
all the elements which still  appeal to 
the man in the street1 it was not until 
#agee1 when it was  exhibited at the    
,salon1 that it achieved its greatest   
triumph4  ,as  long as the exhibition   
was open the people crowded round this  
pious  presentment of humble life which 
had strayed so unaccountably amongst    
the pictures of the ,court              
painters--pictures which for many years1
 as  we shall see1 had been free from   

the suspicion of any odour of  sanctity4
    ,whence comes he8  ,whose pupil is  
he8 asked the bewildered  ,academicians1
 who1 in the manner of ,academicians1   
could not believe  it possible for an   
artist outside their circle to attain   
either  excellence or fame4  ,the answer
 came1 ,he is a pupil of ,diderot4      
,although this answer did not contain   
the whole truth1 it was yet  significant
 of a change that was taking place in   
the aspirations of  many ,french people4
  ,diderot1 a clever and copious man of 
letters1  had commenced to write about  
pictures1 and he was now advocating that
  art should be devoted to the cause of 
morality4  ,greuze's picture  happening 
to coincide with his own idea1 he at    
once wrote an  enthusiastic1 one may    
almost say a gushing1 eulogy of this and
 other  similar works of the artist2 and
 in that way he helped to swell the     
renown which ,greuze had now achieved4  
#f    ,meanwhile1 the artist1 with that 
perversity which one has noted in  the  

early life of other famous men1 must now
 leave his own path to go  to study art 
in ,italy4  ,hundreds of years have been
 needed to  convince painters that the  
,italian artists wrought great pictures 
because they expressed their own ideas  
of beauty1 just as away from  ,italy    
,rembrandt saw picturesque grandeur and 
noble dignity in the  ,jews' quarter of 
,amsterdam1 and lamented not that its   
inhabitants  were not ,greeks4  ,i do   
not study the ancients1 wrote ,chantrey1
  heedless of syntax1 but ,i study where
 the ancients studied--nature4    ,the  
ambition of ,greuze at this time was to 
belong to that singularly  dreary and   
barren class of painters known as       
historical painters2 and  he wasted some
 years in the pursuit of a project      
which1 in the end1  brought him one of  
the most crushing humiliations of his   
whole life4  ,woe to the artist1 ,goethe
 has written1 who leaves his hut to     
squander himself in academic halls of   
state6 and this woe fell upon  ,greuze  

in exceeding bitterness when his first  
historical picture was  exhibited4  ,but
 that incident belongs to the year      
#agfi1 and it was at  the end of the    
year #agee1 when he was thirty years of 
age1 that he  went to ,italy4    ,almost
 the only effect of his stay of two     
years in ,italy was that for  some time 
the figures in his pictures were arrayed
 in the  resplendent small clothes of   
the people of that country1 and had     
also ,italian names4  ,the #g painter   
who did really influence ,greuze  was   
,rubens1 who was not an ,italian1 and   
whose pictures1 no further  away than   
the ,luxembourg in ,paris1 it was in    
later years one of the  great delights  
of his life to study4    ,in the list of
 ,greuze's works for the year #ageg we  
notice amongst  some pictures of the    
genre type--the representation1 that is1
 of  the life of the humble--a number of
 paintings which have ,italian  names2  
and then there are portraits1 and the   
first of that long  series of heads of  

girls and boys whose fame has outlasted 
the fame  of all his more pretentious   
works4    ,greuze's industry was now    
very great1 and in #agfa there was      
exhibited  one more of his greater      
triumphs1 ,un ,mariage  l'instant o le  
,pre  de l'accorde delivre la dot  son  
gendre1 a picture which created  another
 sensation in ,paris4  ,it was          
unfinished when the ,salon of that  year
 was opened1 and was hung only during   
the last few days of the  exhibition4   
,but all through these days people      
gathered round it with  the same avidity
 with which they had elbowed one another
 for a peep  at ,un ,pre de ,famille qui
 lit la ,bible  ses ,enfants4    ,during
 the next two years ,greuze painted     
portraits and heads of  children1 and   
the year #agfi is notable because of his
 unhappy attempt  to become a member of 
the ,academy as an historical painter4  
,he had1  as we have seen1 been made    
agr1 but he had not yet complied with   
the rule that required each member to   

provide the ,academy with one of  his   
pictures4  #h ,the picture he now       
submitted bore the sufficiently         
comprehensive title of ,septime-,svre   
reprochant  son fils  ,caracalla d'avoir
 attent  sa vie dans les dfils d',ecosse
 et lui  disant3--,si tu dsires ma mort1
 ordonne  ,papinien de me la donner4    
,the members of the ,academy assembled1 
and the picture was placed upon  an     
easel that they might examine it1 while 
,greuze awaited their  verdict in       
another room4  ,in an hour the artist   
was admitted4    ,monsieur ,greuze1 said
 the director1 the ,academy receives    
you2 come  forward and take the oath4   
,when this ceremony had been completed  
the director continued1 ,you have been  
received2 but it is as a  painter of    
genre4  ,the ,academy has considered    
your former  productions1 which are     
excellent1 but it has closed its eyes   
upon  this picture1 which is worthy     
neither of the ,academy nor of you4     
,greuze was astounded and disappointed2 

and he commenced to stammer  out a      
confused defence of the picture1 the    
worst probably that he  ever painted4   
,then ,lagrene1 taking a pencil from one
 of his  pockets1 pointed out some of   
the mistakes in drawing on the canvas4  
,greuze1 cut to the heart1 went away1   
and continued a defence of his  picture 
in the newspapers4    ,one of the       
letters which ,greuze sent to the public
 journals is an  interesting revelation 
of how little of what is understood now 
as art  went to the making of an        
historical painting4  ,greuze wrote3    
#i    ,in the continuation of your      
comments upon the pictures exhibited at 
the ,salon in the last number of your   
journal you have been unjust  towards me
 upon two points2 and as an honourable  
man you would no  doubt wish to remove  
these injustices in your next issue4    
,in the  first place1 instead of        
treating me as you have treated the     
other  artists1 my confrres1 to whom you
 have offered1 in a few lines1 the      

tribute of commendation which they have 
merited1 you have gone out of  your way 
to discuss1 with the public1 how1       
according to your opinion1  ,poussin    
would have painted the same subject4  ,i
 do not doubt1 sir1  that ,poussin1 of  
the same subject1 would have made a     
sublime work2  but to a certainty he    
would have painted a very different     
picture  from the one which you have    
imagined4  ,i must ask you to believe   
that  ,i have studied1 as carefully as  
you have been able to study1 the  works 
of that great man1 and ,i have1 above   
all1 sought to acquire the  art of      
endowing my characters with dramatic    
expression4  ,you have  carried your    
views a long way1 it is true1 inasmuch  
as you have  remarked that ,poussin     
would have put the clasps of the cloaks 
upon  the right side1 while ,i have put 
that of the robe of ,caracalla upon  the
 left--surely a very grave error6  ,but 
,i do not surrender so  easily          
concerning the character which you      

pretend that ,poussin would  have given 
to the ,emperor4  ,all the world knows  
that ,severus was the  most passionate1 
the most violent of men1 and you would  
wish #aj  that when he says to his son1 
',if thou desirest my death1 order      
,papinian to kill me with that sword1'  
he should1 in my picture1 have  an air  
as calm and as tranquil as ,solomon had 
in similar  circumstances4  ,i ask all  
sensible men to judge whether that was  
or  was not the expression which should 
have been put on the face of that       
redoubtable ,emperor4    ,another       
injustice1 much greater still1 is that1 
after you had  endeavoured to discover  
how ,poussin would have treated this    
subject1  you have assumed that ,i had  
the idea to paint ,geta1 the brother of 
,caracalla1 in the personage that ,i    
have placed behind ,papinian4  ,first of
 all1 ,geta was not present at that     
scene2 it was ,castor the  chamberlain1 
one of the most faithful servants of    
,severus4  ,in the  second place1 in    

supposing gratuitously1 as you have     
done1 that ,i had  the design to        
represent ,geta1 you would have been    
right to have  reproached me if ,i had  
painted him too old1 because he was the 
younger brother of ,caracalla4          
,thirdly1 ,i should still have been     
wrong if ,i had not painted him in his  
armour4  ,you see1 sir1 what            
absurdities you have attributed to me in
 order that you might indulge  your love
 of criticism4  ,i believe you to be a  
man too honest to  refuse me the        
satisfaction of making this letter      
public in your  journal4  ,it is due to 
me to be allowed to explain my own      
picture and  to correct the             
interpretation which you have given to  
it without  consulting me and without   
consulting history4    #aa    ,do you   
wish to discourage an artist who        
sacrifices all to merit the  favours    
with which the public has so far        
honoured him8  ,why1 upon my  first     
essay1 attack me so openly8  ,this is to

 me a new kind of  painting1 but it is  
one in which ,i flatter myself that ,i  
shall become  perfect as time goes on4  
,why compare me alone1 amongst all my   
confrres1 to the most learned painter of
 the ,french school8  ,if you  have done
 this to indulge me1 you have not done  
it happily1 for ,i can  find nothing in 
all that article but a marked design to 
annoy me4  ,nor shall ,i be able to     
recognise any other than that design--a 
most  unworthy one in a writer who ought
 to be impartial--until ,i have seen    
your willingness to print my letter in  
your journal4    ,it will be noticed    
that in this letter there is not a      
single word  written about art4  ,all   
the discussion turns upon archological  
details4  ,poussin is not mentioned as  
an artist1 but merely as a  learned     
painter1 and we shall see1 when we      
discuss the position  held by ,greuze   
amongst ,french artists1 that scholars1 
excellent in  their own place1 came at  
length to push the painters from their  

stools1 with very disastrous results for
 the art of ,france4    ,even ,diderot  
turned upon this picture and condemned  
it2 for he and  his followers now saw   
that after all ,greuze was not the      
painter of  morality for whom they had  
been seeking4  ,greuze1 it appeared1 was
  ready to pay homage to traditional    
conventions1 and to become a  #ab       
backslider from the ideals which they   
had cherished4  ,after this  scene      
,greuze refused to exhibit any of his   
pictures at the annual  exhibitions of  
the ,academy until the ,revolution swept
 away  restrictions1 and opened the     
doors of the ,salon to all artists4  ,he
  also shook the dust of ,paris from his
 feet1 and lived for a time in  ,anjou1 
where he painted a number of pictures1  
including that portrait  of ,madame de  
,porcin which is to-day one of the      
treasures of the  museum of ,angers4    
,when ,greuze returned to ,paris his    
repute was greater than it had ever     
been before4  ,it was now the fashion to

 visit his studio1 and royal  princes1  
the nobility1 the ,emperor ,joseph the  
,second and other  foreign notabilities 
came to see ,la ,cruche ,casse1 ,la     
,maldiction  ,paternelle1 ,la ,dame de  
,charit1 ,le ,fils ,puni1 and other     
paintings which happened at that time to
 be still in his possession4  ,he       
amassed money notwithstanding the great 
losses caused by his  wife's lawless    
extravagance4  ,high prices were paid   
for his  paintings1 and the engravers   
,massard1 ,gaillard1 ,levasseur and     
,flipart  were kept busy making plates1 
the impressions from which were in the  
houses of ,paris1 of the provinces1 and 
of foreign countries4  ,moreover1       
curious dilettanti1 people of the kind  
whose chief regard  is for technical and
 accidental states of the plates1 began 
to  collect these engravings1 and to    
compete with one another to possess     
them4  ,one engraver1 ,jean ,georges    
,wille1 had always been the staunch     
friend of #ac ,greuze2 and his son1     

,pierre ,alexandre1 became a pupil  in  
,greuze's studio4  ,at a time when the  
artist had been less known1  it was     
,wille who disseminated a knowledge of  
his works1 not only in  ,france1 but    
also in ,germany4          ,,poverty    
,,and ,,death    ,suddenly1 amidst all  
the splendour of his great reputation1  
the  ,revolution smote ,paris1 and      
,greuze was bereaved of all his glory4  
,the pension he had received from the   
,king ceased with the authority  of the 
,king4  ,the attention of the people was
 withdrawn from him1 and  such regard as
 was paid to pictures during this       
distracted epoch went  to the paintings 
of ,david1 who was both painter and     
politician4  ,greuze's ironical inquiry 
each morning1 ,who is ,king to-day1     
then8  is significant of the instability
 of the time4  ,no more the elite of    
,paris crowded round his easel2 but one 
of his two daughters still  remained    
with him2 and a number of his scholars1 
especially his girl  pupils1 were       

faithful to the end4    ,you have a     
family and you have talent1 young man1  
he once said to  ,prudhon2 that is      
enough in these days to bring about     
one's death by  starvation4  ,look at my
 cuffs1 continued the old man bitterly2 
and  then ,greuze would show him his    
torn shirt-sleeves1 for even he could   
no longer find means of getting on in   
the new order of things4    #ad    ,how 
poor he was may be inferred from his    
letter to the ,minister of  the         
,interior3 ,the picture which ,i am     
painting for the government is  but half
 finished4  ,the situation in which ,i  
find myself has forced  me to ask you to
 pay me part of the money in advance1 so
 that ,i may  be enabled to finish the  
work4  ,i have been honoured by your    
sympathy  in all my misfortunes2 ,i have
 lost everything but my talent and my   
courage4  ,i am seventy-five years of   
age1 and have not a single order  for a 
picture2 indeed1 this is the most       
painful moment of my life4  ,you have a 

kind heart1 and ,i flatter myself that  
you will relieve me  in accordance with 
the urgency of my need4    ,well1       
,greuze1 said his friend ,barthlemy one 
day to him1 when  sitting at his        
bedside4    ,well1 my friend1 replied   
the artist1 ,i am dying4444  ,i am      
commencing to know no longer what ,i am 
saying2 but patience6 yet a  little     
while and ,i shall say nothing more4    
,allons1 mon ami--courage1 one doesn't  
die on the first day of  spring4    ,ah6
 my ,god1 since the ,sans-culottides ,i 
have taken no heed of the  seasons4     
,are we in ,ventse or in ,germinal8  ,is
 to-day ,saint  ,pissenlit or ,saint    
,asperge8    ,what matters6  ,see how   
beautifully the sun shines4    ,i am    
quite at ease for my journey4  ,adieu1  
,barthelemy4  ,i await you  at my       
burial4  ,you will be all alone like the
 poor man's dog4    #ae    ,so in       
poverty and neglect the artist died4    
,there is a tradition that  when        
,napoleon heard of it1 he exclaimed1    

,dead6 poor and neglected6  ,why did he 
not speak8  ,i would have given him a   
pitcher made of  ,svres china1 filled to
 the brim with gold1 for every copy of  
his  ,broken ,pitcher4    ,at the       
funeral1 when the coffin rested in the  
church1 a lady1 whose  emotion could not
 be hidden1 even by the thick veil which
 she wore1  advanced to the coffin1 and 
placed upon it a bouquet of             
immortelles4  ,she then withdrew again  
to an obscure part of the  church4      
,tied to the bouquet was discovered a   
piece of paper which  bore this         
inscription3 ,these flowers1 offered by 
the most grateful  of his pupils1 are   
the emblem of his glory4    ,a newspaper
 of the time gave the name of the young 
lady as  ,mademoiselle ,mayer1 the      
artist who1 before she committed        
suicide1 did  so much to cheer the      
desolate life of ,prudhon1 and who now  
occupies  the same tomb as ,prudhon in  
the cemetery of ,pre la ,chaise in      
,paris4  ,madame de ,valory1 however1   

the god-daughter of ,greuze1 has stated 
that the woman was ,madame ,jubot1      
another of the pupils of ,greuze4       
,tournus neglected him in his life1 but 
to-day is proud of its  illustrious son4
  ,a monument of the artist has been    
erected in the  town1 some of his       
pictures hang in the church and in the  
museum1 and  a tablet marks the house in
 which he was born4          #af        
,,romance ,,and ,,tragedy    ,it was    
peculiarly fitting that a lady should   
deposit upon the coffin  of ,greuze a   
bouquet of immortelles1 for his romantic
 and chivalrous  regard for women1 from 
a very early period in his career1 had a
 great  influence upon his life and     
work4  ,even as a pupil of ,grandon1    
,greuze  fell in love with his master's 
wife1 a woman of very great beauty and  
charm4  ,he never told his love2 but one
 day ,grandon's daughter  surprised     
,greuze on his knees in the studio4     
,she asked him what he  was doing there1
 and he replied that he was looking for 

something he  had lost4  ,but she had   
seen that he had one of her mother's    
shoes1  and that he was covering it with
 ardent kisses4    ,exceptionally       
romantic1 too1 was his love for the     
beautiful ,ltitia  during the two years 
that he spent in ,italy4  ,greuze had   
carried with  him to that country       
letters of introduction to the ,duc del 
,or44441 by  whom he had been received  
with great cordiality4  ,the ,duke's    
wife had  died1 but he had a charming   
daughter1 ,ltitia1 to whom it was       
arranged that ,greuze should give       
lessons in painting4  ,greuze was a  man
 to whom women and girls were           
instinctively attracted1 and ,ltitia    
fell in love with him1 with all the     
violence and passion of the  ,italian   
temperament4  ,her beauty and her       
charming manners had also  fascinated   
,greuze2 but he was very much           
disconcerted when he found  that she    
loved him1 because he was conscious #ag 
of the gulf which  birth and fortune had

 placed between them4  ,he1 therefore1  
rigorously  repressed his desire to see 
her1 and forced himself to stay away    
from  the palace4    ,meanwhile1 his    
doleful demeanour1 innocent face1 and   
light curls  obtained for him1 from     
,fragonard and other ,french students1  
who were  in ,italy at the time1 the    
name of the love-sick cherub4    ,greuze
 at length heard that ,ltitia was ill1  
and that no one could  discover the     
cause or nature of her malady4  ,he     
loitered near her  home to try to obtain
 tidings of her1 and one day he         
encountered the  ,duke1 who took him to 
the palace to show him two pictures by  
,titian1  which he had recently         
purchased4    ,my daughter1 he said1 has
 promised herself the pleasure of       
copying  them when her health has been  
restored4  ,i hope that you will come to
  superintend her work4  ,that is what  
she wishes4    ,the ,duke further asked 
,greuze to make a copy of one of the    
pictures  as soon as he could1 because  

he wished to send the copy away as a    
present4  ,greuze could not refuse2 and 
thus he was soon installed in  the      
palace again1 working there day by day4 
,each morning he was  informed1 by an   
old retainer of the family1 who had been
 ,ltitia's  nurse1 how the young lady   
fared4  ,the old nurse knew the two were
 in  love with each other4  ,indeed1 a  
little later1 she arranged a secret     
interview between them1 #ah and ,greuze 
found his idol pale and thin1  but not  
less beautiful than before4    ,at first
 neither of them could speak2 but1      
encouraged by the nurse1  ,ltitia       
blurted out3    ,monsieur ,greuze1 ,i   
love you4  ,tell me frankly1 do you love
 me8    ,greuze was too happy to speak1 
and ,ltitia1 mistaking the cause of  his
 silence1 hid her face in her hands1 and
 burst into tears4    ,this melted      
,greuze to the uttermost4  ,he threw    
himself at her feet1  and then1 in the  
intervals between his impetuous kisses1 
he poured  out impassioned declarations 

of his love4    ,i can now be happy1    
cried ,ltitia1 clapping her hands1 and  
behaving  like a gladdened child4  ,she 
ran and embraced her nurse1 and again   
and again gave expression to her        
ecstasy4  ,listen to me1 you two2  here 
is my scheme4  ,i love ,greuze1 and ,i  
will marry him4    ,my dear child1 you  
dream1 replied the nurse4  ,what about  
your  father8    ,my nurse1 you wish to 
say that my father will not consent4    
,well ,i  know that4  ,he wishes me to  
marry his eternal ,casa--the oldest and 
the ugliest of men2 or the young ,count 
,palleri1 whom ,i do not know1  nor ever
 wish to know4  ,i am rich through my   
mother1 and ,i give my  fortune to      
,greuze1 whom ,i marry4  ,he takes me to
 ,france1 and you will  follow us there4
    ,and intoxicated with the future    
which she had arranged1 she detailed1   
with a delicious #ai volubility1 the    
life that they would lead  together in  
,paris4  ,greuze would continue to      
paint4  ,he would become  another       

,titian1 and in the end her father would
 be proud to have such  a son-in-law4   
,when ,greuze next saw ,ltitia he had   
had time to review all the              
circumstances1 and he appeared with a   
woeful face4  ,ltitia derided  him1 and 
then tried to coax him tenderly out of  
his gloomy mood4  ,at  last1 becoming   
angry1 she called him perfidious1 and   
reproached him  that he had pretended to
 love her that he might the more easily 
break  her heart4  ,she cried and tore  
her hair1 and ,greuze fell at her feet1 
and promised to obey her blindly4       
,but as soon as he had left the palace  
he saw the folly of it all4  ,he  saw   
the despair of her father1 heard his    
maledictions1 and felt his  vengeance1  
and all the misfortune which would come 
upon their love4  ,he then decided that 
he would not relent again1 nor see      
,ltitia any  more4  ,as an excuse for   
not visiting her he pretended that he   
was  ill1 and this simulated illness    
became real4  ,for three months he was  

ailing1 and part of the time he was     
consumed by fever and delirium4    ,at  
the end of his illness ,ltitia was still
 eager to marry him2 but  with          
extraordinary firmness of will he       
resisted the temptation and  fled from  
,italy1 carrying with him secretly a    
copy of the portrait of  ,ltitia1 which 
he had painted for her father4    ,many 
years later1 when ,greuze was once #bj  
more a poor man1 he wrote  in reply to  
the ,grand ,duchess of ,russia1 who had 
offered ten thousand  livres for the    
portrait of ,ltitia1 ,if you were to    
give me all the  riches of the ,empire  
of ,russia they would not pay for that  
picture1  and probably in his old age he
 read yet again the letter he had       
received from ,ltitia1 eight years after
 he quitted ,rome4  ,yes1 my  dear      
,greuze1 your old pupil is now a good   
mother2 ,i have five  charming children1
 whom ,i adore4  ,my eldest daughter is 
worthy to be  offered as a subject for  
your happy talent2 she is beautiful as  

an  angel4  ,ask the ,prince d',este4   
,my husband almost convinces me that ,i 
continue to be young and pretty1 so much
 does he still love me4  ,as ,i  have   
told you1 this happiness is due to you1 
and ,i love you for  having prevented me
 from loving you4    ,greuze had        
scarcely returned from ,italy when he   
was attracted by  ,mademoiselle         
,anne-,gabrielle ,babuty1 who was in    
charge of a bookshop  in ,paris4        
,diderot1 who had himself been very much
 in love with her1  has described her as
 a smart dashing young woman1 of upright
  carriage1 and with a complexion of    
lilies and roses4  ,de ,goncourt  also  
speaks of her numerous charms4  ,she had
 a pretty face1 which  ,greuze seemed to
 be never tired of painting4  ,it was   
the smooth face  of a child1 and had an 
attractive roundness1 and a soft1       
tender1  peach-like delicate complexion4
  ,the expression was simple and        
unaffected1 and there was enough of     
piquancy to animate a face #ba  which1  

for all its manifold good qualities1    
would else have had a  tendency towards 
insipidity4  ,her eyebrows were very    
much arched1 and  this circumstance lent
 to her face its expression of navet4   
,her  eyelashes were long1 and when her 
eyes were downcast they gave a  charming
 look to her face1 resting like a caress
 upon her cheeks4  ,her little nose1 the
 nose of a child1 was exquisitely       
formed1 and  seemed to indicate an alert
 and lively character1 and her rosy lips
  were also finely shaped1 and          
particularly alluring4    ,her portrait 
appears often in the paintings of       
,greuze in ,la  ,philosophie ,endormie1 
,la ,mre ,bien ,aime1 ,la ,voluptueuse1 
and in  many others4    ,the story of   
their first encounter1 and of their     
subsequent  relations1 is best told by a
 few extracts from a document which     
,greuze had cause to execute some years 
afterwards4  ,he wrote3    ,a few days  
after having arrived from ,rome--,i know
 not by what  fatality--,i passed along 

the ,rue ,saint ,jacques1 and saw in her
 shop  ,mademoiselle ,babuty1 who was   
the daughter of a bookseller4    ,i was 
struck with admiration1 for she had a   
very beautiful figure2  and that ,i     
might have a better chance of seeing her
 ,i bought a number  of books4  ,her    
face was without character1 and was     
indeed rather  sheep-like4  ,i paid her 
as many compliments as she could wish1  
and  she knew who ,i was1 for my        
reputation had already commenced1 and ,i
  had been recognised by the ,academy4  
#bb    ,she was then thirty and some odd
 years of age1 and therefore in  danger 
of remaining single all her life4  ,she 
employed all the  cajoleries that were  
possible to attach me to her1 and to    
cause me to  come again1 and ,i         
continued to pay her visits for about a 
month4  ,one  afternoon ,i found her    
more animated than usual4  ,she took one
 of my  hands1 and1 regarding me with a 
very passionate look1 she said1         
',monsieur ,greuze1 would you marry me  

if ,i were to consent8'    ,i avow ,i   
was confounded by such a question4  ,i  
said to her1  ',mademoiselle1 would not 
one be too happy to pass his life with a
  woman so lovable as you are8'    ,of  
course1 this was but lightly said1 yet  
that did not prevent her  from taking   
action at once2 for1 upon the very next 
morning1 she went  with her mother to   
the ,quai des ,orfvres1 and there       
bought1 at the  shop of ,monsieur       
,strass1 earrings of false diamonds1 and
 next day she  did not hesitate to wear 
these in her ears4    ,as she lived in a
 shop1 the neighbours were not slow in  
paying her  compliments1 and in asking  
her who had presented these jewels to   
her4    ,with downcast eyes she answered
 softly1 ',it is ,monsieur ,greuze who  
has given them to me4'    ',you are     
married1 then8'    ',ah1 no2' but this  
was said in a way that implied that     
secretly she  had married me4  ,my      
friends began at once to congratulate   
me1 but ,i  assured them there was      

nothing more false than #bc the news    
they had  heard1 and that ,i had not    
money enough to enable me to marry4     
,outraged at such effrontery1 ,i did not
 return to ,mademoiselle ,babuty  any   
more4  ,i lived at that time in le      
faubourg ,saint ,germain1 rue  du ,petit
 ,lion1 in an hotel of furnished rooms  
called l',htel des  ,vignes4  ,three    
days passed1 during which ,i heard no   
more of the  matter1 and ,i was already 
thinking of other affairs1 when one fine
  day she came knocking at my door      
accompanied by her little servant  girl4
  ,i took no notice of the knocks1 but  
she knew ,i was there1 and  she attacked
 my door with her hands and feet like a 
veritable fury4  ,then1 to prevent a    
public scandal1 ,i opened my door1 and  
she threw  herself into my room all in  
tears4  ,she said to me3    ',i have    
done wrong1 ,monsieur ,greuze1 but it is
 love which has misled  me4  ,it is the 
attachment ,i have for you which has    
made me resort to  such a stratagem4    

,my life is in your hands4'  ,then she  
flung herself  at my knees1 and said she
 would not rise again until ,i had      
promised  that ,i would marry her4  ,she
 took my two hands in hers1 and they    
were  wet with tears4  ,i pitied her1   
and ,i promised all she wished4    ,we  
were not married until two years        
afterwards1 in the parish of  ,saint    
,medard--which was not her parish--for  
fear of the pleasantries  that would    
have been made1 seeing that she had said
 that we were  already married4  ,i     
commenced housekeeping with twenty-six  
livres the  day after our wedding4      
#bd    ,during the first seven years of 
their married life they had three       
children4  ,one of the children died1   
leaving the artist and his wife  with   
two daughters4    ,concerning these     
seven years no complaint is made about  
the conduct  of ,madame ,greuze2 but    
from that time it would be difficult to 
find a  more unhappy household than that
 of ,greuze4  ,his wife was a continual 

torment1 hindering him in his work1     
putting his life on a lower  level1 and 
making his home intolerable4  ,diderot  
even blamed her for  the infelicity of  
his ,academy picture1 and ,greuze       
himself suspected  her of having        
poisoned the minds of the members of the
 ,academy  against him4    ,her         
faithlessness1 gross as it was1 received
 further aggravation from  the insolent 
openness in which it manifested itself4 
,she received  men of the most          
disreputable character at her house1    
caring naught  whether her husband knew 
or not2 and she polluted the morals of  
his  boy pupils4  ,her children she     
neglected and put into a convent1 one   
for eleven years1 and the other for     
twelve4  ,it is a year and seven  days  
since mamma saw us1 said one of the     
girls sadly one day1 when  their father 
had gone to visit them4    ,many a time 
,greuze went in bodily fear of her      
violence4  ,when she  asked for the help
 of a servant1 and ,greuze suggested    

that she should  wait a little longer1  
until he could pay the wages of one1 she
 dealt  him1 with all her might1 a blow 
upon his face4  ,she squandered in all  
#be manner of foolish extravagance the  
large fortune which ,greuze  received   
from the sale of the engravings from his
 works2 and then she  destroyed his     
account books1 that the extent of her   
defalcations  might never be known4     
,her household duties were abandoned1   
and  ,greuze nearly died when one day he
 warmed for himself some food in a      
saucepan in which verdigris had been    
suffered to accumulate4    ,at last her 
violence1 her rank immorality1 her      
extravagance and her  neglect could be  
borne no longer1 and in despair ,greuze 
obtained from  the magistrates the legal
 right to live apart from his wife4     
,,personal ,,characteristics    ,the    
sadness of the story of ,greuze's       
married life is all the more  touching  
because he had the qualities of a true  
and tender husband4  ,it is indeed not  

less than a tragedy that1 constituted as
 he was1 he  should have been denied the
 companionship of a woman worthy of the 
great affection of which his nature was 
capable4  ,often querulous and  brusque 
with men1 his manner with women was     
gracious and respectful1  his politeness
 the true politeness of the kind heart  
that desires the  well-being of others4 
,as we have seen1 his relations with    
,ltitia  were governed by a most        
chivalrous ideal of conduct1 an ideal   
which  seems quite quixotic when we     
think of the period in which he lived4  
,as ,ltitia had been attracted towards  
him1 so #bf also were most of  the women
 who moved in his social sphere2 and1   
eager as he was for  praise from men1 it
 came with added sweetness from the lips
 of women4  ,it is not surprising that  
he painted women with such perfect      
charm1  because his heart was in the    
work4    ,greuze1 though only of middle 
height1 had yet an impressive           
personality2 and people of any          

discernment saw at a glance that he  was
 a man of distinction4  ,his head was   
well formed1 his forehead  high1 his    
eyes large and bright1 and of a good    
shape1 and his  features indicated      
genius1 candour1 and an energetic will4 
,his conversation was sincere and       
elevated1 and often piquant and         
animated4  ,he sometimes showed signs of
 nervousness and irritability1  and     
became quite fiery when his work was    
criticised1 or when he  thought he was  
not receiving the treatment which his   
vanity prompted  him to think he ought  
to receive4    ,this self-esteem1 always
 abnormal1 had been increased by his    
early  success with ,un ,pre de ,famille
 qui lit la ,bible  ses ,enfants4  ,our 
painter is a little vain1 wrote ,diderot
 in #agfe1 but his  vanity is that of a 
child2 and it was generally recognised  
that  there was very much of navet in   
his conceit1 and that his good          
qualities compensated for any displays  
of childish self-sufficiency4    ,at    

times his talk became inflated and      
bombastic4  ,oh1 sir6 he would  say1    
concerning his own picture1 here is a   
work which #bg  astonishes even me who  
painted it4  ,i cannot understand how a 
man  can1 with a few pounded earths1    
animate a canvas in this way1 and no    
ridicule could cure him of this         
flamboyant manner4    ,that is          
beautiful1 said ,monsieur de ,marigny1  
standing before  ,greuze's painting of  
,la ,pleureuse4    ,sir1 ,i know it2    
moreover1 people praise me1 and yet ,i  
am in need of  more commissions4    ,it 
is because you have a host of enemies1  
said ,vernet1 who was  present at the   
time1 and amongst those enemies is one  
who appears to  love you to the verge of
 folly1 but he will nevertheless ruin   
you4    ,and who is that8    ,it is     
yourself4    ,greuze's irritability     
sometimes revealed itself in downright  
rudeness4  ,natoire1 the professor at   
the ,academy1 looking through a         
portfolio of drawings of some other     

artist1 questioned the accuracy  of one 
of the figures1 whereupon ,greuze turned
 upon him and said3    ,sir1 you would  
be happy if you could draw one as well4 
,the ,dauphin1 when ,greuze had painted 
his portrait1 wishing to show  how      
pleased he was with ,greuze's work1 paid
 him the high compliment  of suggesting 
that he should now paint the portrait of
 the ,dauphine1  who was present4       
,greuze looked at her face1 and alluding
 to the  thick covering of rouge which  
appeared upon #bh her cheeks1 asked to  
be excused1 for he could not paint such 
a face as that4  ,no wonder  that       
,mariette should say that ,greuze had   
the manners of a cobbler4    ,there are 
also hints that ,greuze was sometimes   
jealous4  ,in ,un ,homme  d',autrefois1 
by the ,marquis ,costa de ,beauregard1  
it has been  narrated that ,henry       
,costa1 one of the author's ancestors1  
wishing to  be an artist1 went at the   
age of fourteen years to ,paris4  ,he   
was  received with great kindness by    

,greuze1 and the enthusiastic boy said  
il parle comme un ange1 but in an       
article contributed by ,augustus        
,mansion to ,temple ,bay we have read1  
,another chagrin followed4  ,greuze     
became jealous of his prodigy1 tried to 
shake him off1 ignored  letters1 and    
declined to permit himself to be seen at
 work4  ,it was  an unkindness keenly   
felt by the boy1 who was learning every 
day a  little more of the world3        
',quelle froideur et quelle mystre6' he 
says4  ',greuze told me he could not    
communicate certain processes he  was   
employing1 that what was useful for him 
might not be the same for  me4  ,i      
cannot understand how a fine genius can 
be capable of such  meanness4'    ,yet  
one cannot estimate the whole character 
of ,greuze by these  isolated incidents4
  ,like other people1 he said and did   
different  things when he was in        
different moods1 and we know that when  
the  artists of ,paris held aloof from  
,prudhon1 whose poverty had compelled   

him to draw vignettes on letter sheets  
for the #bi government  offices1        
business cards for tradesmen1 and even  
little pictures for  bon-bonnires444    
,greuze alone treated him amicably4     
,greuze's industry was abnormal4  ,as a 
worker he seemed indefatigable4  ,he was
 absorbed in his art1 putting all his   
soul and brains into his  pictures1 and 
seeming to live for his work1 and for no
 other thing4          #cj              
,,characteristics ,,of ,,his ,,work     
,there is so little variety in the works
 of ,greuze that if one divides  them   
into two main classes1 nearly all his   
pictures1 with the  exception of the    
portraits1 may be placed in one or other
 of these  two divisions4  ,in one class
 there are his genre pictures1          
containing as a rule many figures2 and  
then1 better known than these1  and of  
greater merit1 are his single heads of  
girls and boys1 which  constitute the   
other principal category4    ,his first 
great success was achieved with his     

picture of the genre  class1 ,un ,pre de
 ,famille qui lit la ,bible  ses        
,enfants1 and this  book contains an    
illustration from another popular work  
of this sort  called ,l',accorde de     
,village4  ,a section of this volume    
explains  the relative position of      
,greuze in the history of art1 and      
reasons  are given which account for the
 great acclamation with which this and  
similar works were received in ,paris   
when first they were exhibited4         
,meanwhile we will consider the         
intrinsic merits of these pictures      
without reference to the novelty of     
their appearance--an appearance  in     
which a number of adventitious          
circumstances are involved4             
,illustration3 ,,the ,,village ,,bride4 
7,l',accorde de ,village47    #ca    ,in
 painting pictures of scenes in the life
 of humble people1 ,greuze  had an aim  
other than the representation of some   
beauty of nature by  which his own      
emotions had been profoundly stirred4   

,he wished to  play the schoolmaster1   
and the history of painting has         
demonstrated  that1 whatever may be the 
immediate effect of pictures that have  
been  wrought in this mood1 they have   
never been the pictures that have       
endured for all time the test of a      
comparison with the severest  standards 
of excellence in art1 and they have     
invariably sunk into  their own         
place--amongst pictures not in the first
 class4    ,again and again it has been 
shown that a man cannot be a preacher or
  a story-writer on canvas and at the   
same time an artist of the first  rank4 
,the reason for this is that it is not  
the function of  pictorial art to tell  
tales1 nor to preach sermons1 though    
artists  can do both1 and yet be very   
popular4    ,sir1 said ,dr4 ,johnson1 a 
woman's preaching is like a dog's       
walking  on his hind legs3 it is not    
done well2 but you are surprised to find
  it done at all4  ,and one may apply   
the same remark to the  pulpiteering of 

the painter with much less risk of      
evoking a protest4    ,during recent    
years this truth has begun to receive   
recognition4  ,thophile ,gautier has    
written strenuously against             
story-telling  pictures1 and ,whistler  
has argued that ,art is1 withal1        
selfishly  occupied with her own        
perfection only--having no desire to    
teach--seeking #cb and finding the      
beautiful in all conditions and  in all 
times4    ,while these opinions of      
modern critics upon anecdotal art are in
 our  minds1 it will be appropriate to  
mention ,greuze's own views as  revealed
 in what he called une note historique  
upon his painting  of ,la ,belle-,mre4  
,for a long time ,i had wished1 he says1
 to  paint that character1 but in each  
sketch the expression of the  stepmother
 always appeared to me to be feeble and 
unsatisfactory4  ,one day1 however1 when
 ,i was crossing the ,pont-,neuf1 ,i saw
 two women1  who spoke to one another   
with much vehemence4  ,one of them began

 to  shed tears1 and she exclaimed1     
',such a stepmother too6  ,yes1 she gave
  me bread1 but in giving it to me she  
broke my teeth4'  ,that was a  coup de  
lumire for me2 ,i returned to the house1
 and ,i made the  sketch for my picture1
 which contains five figures3 the       
step-mother1  the daughter of the dead  
mother1 the grandmother of the orphan1  
the  daughter of the stepmother1 and a  
child of three years4  ,i have  supposed
 in my picture that it is the           
dinner-hour1 and that the poor  little  
girl goes to take a seat at the table   
with the other children4  ,then the     
stepmother takes a piece of bread from  
the table1 and1  holding the orphan back
 by her apron1 thrusts the bread roughly
 into  her mouth4  ,i have set myself   
the task of showing in that action the  
deliberate hate of the woman4  ,the     
child seeks to evade her  stepmother's  
violence1 and seems as one #cc who would
 say1 ',why  would you ill-use me8  ,i  
have done you no harm4'  ,the child's   

expression is a mixture of shyness and  
of fear4  ,her grandmother is  at the   
other end of the table4  ,harrowed by   
grief1 she lifts her eyes  to heaven1   
and1 with hands trembling1 seems to say1
 ',ah6 my daughter1  where are you8     
,what misfortunes6 what bitterness6'    
,the daughter of  the stepmother1 not at
 all sympathetic concerning the lot of  
her  sister1 laughs to witness the      
despair of the poor old woman1 and1 in  
ridicule1 draws her mother's attention  
to her gestures4  ,the infant  of the   
family1 whose heart has not yet been    
corrupted1 gratefully  stretches out her
 arms towards the sister who has        
bestowed so much  kindness upon her4  ,i
 have wished to paint a woman who       
maltreats a  child that does not belong 
to her1 and who1 by a double crime1 has 
also corrupted the heart of her own     
daughter4    ,here1 then1 we see an     
anecdotal painting in the making4       
,although  this rehearsal is very       
touching1 as a revelation of the kind   

heart of  the man1 it yet seems to-day a
 particularly nave exposition of the    
motive for a work of art4  ,nothing     
could show with greater clearness  the  
wide gulf that1 in the art world1 lies  
between the end of the  eighteenth      
century and the end of a century which  
closed with  discussions of the theories
 of impressionists1 vibrists1 symbolists
  and pointillists1 and with the        
theories of those who1 denying that  art
 is primarily moral1 or even            
intellectual1 have contended that it  is
 #cd simply a means by which we are made
 to respond to an artist's  emotion4    
,if ,whistler1 to mention an artist     
representative of some newer  movements 
than those of the eighteenth century1   
had been on the  ,pont-,neuf1 from what 
a different source would have come any  
coup de  lumire which might have flashed
 into his brain6  ,not during high      
noon1 nor in the gossip of the people1  
would he have found the motive  for his 
paintings4  ,his coup de lumire would   

have come when the  evening mist clothes
 the riverside with poetry1 as with a   
veil1 and  the buildings lose themselves
 in the dim sky1 and the tall chimneys  
become campanili1 and the warehouses are
 palaces in the night1 and  the whole   
city hangs in the heavens1 and fairyland
 is before us--then  the wayfarer       
hastens home2 and the working man and   
the cultured one1  the wise man and the 
one of pleasure1 cease to understand1 as
 they  have ceased to see1 and ,nature1 
who1 for once1 has sung in tune1  sings 
her exquisite song to the artist alone1 
her son and her  master--her son in that
 he loves her1 her master in that he    
knows  her4    ,whistler's eyes would   
have been directed towards the beauties 
of  colour and of tone that he might    
find on the river or on its banks2  and 
the ,isle de ,france1 as it is seen by  
the tired journalist as he  makes his   
way to the ,latin ,quarter at dawn of   
day1 with its tender  grays1 and its    
evasive charms of exquisite light and   

colour1 would be  of more account to him
 than #ce all the conversations in the  
world1  however vehement they might be4 
,the idea of preaching or moralizing  on
 canvas would never have entered his    
head for a moment4    ,when ,greuze1 in 
harmony with the raw notions of ,diderot
 upon art1 did  preach1 his homilies    
were singularly unimpressive4  ,the     
pictures  which he painted when in this 
sermonizing vein have all the elements  
that go to the making of what is now    
called melodrama4  ,the scenes  are not 
the result of a discriminating          
observation of real life2 are  not1 to  
use ,zola's phrase1 ,nature seen through
 a temperament4  ,they  are founded upon
 conventions1 upon the artificial and   
sentimental  ideas of life that have by 
some curious freak of the human mind    
established themselves in books and     
plays and pictures4    ,the figures in  
,greuze's genre pictures pose before the
 spectators2  they gesticulate and      
overdo their parts like barn-stormers4  

,pity  becomes maudlin1 morality        
degenerates into sanctimoniousness1 and 
humility is degraded into utter         
abasement4  ,the sentimentality in ,un  
,paralytique ,soign par sa ,famille1 ou 
le ,fruit de la ,bonne  ,education1 and 
in ,la ,mre ,paralytique is particularly
 nauseating1  and in ,la ,mre bien ,aime
 the exaggeration of what is in actual  
life a very tender sentiment makes of   
that picture a very significant  example
 of ,greuze's stilted manner4  ,the six 
children--all of them  about the same   
age--who have flung themselves upon     
their mother1 seem  so numerous1 #cf and
 are so involved in a confused heap of  
humanity  that ,madame ,geoffrin spoke  
of the picture as a fricassee of        
children1 and incurred thereby the      
fulminations of the artist4  ,in  his   
genre pictures1 too1 as is usual in     
melodrama elsewhere1 the  humble cottage
 is the headquarters of all the virtues4
    ,greuze1 it is true1 made sketches  
for his pictures in the streets and  in 

the market-places2 but there is none of 
the freshness of the  sketch when the   
figure appears on the canvas1 and ,de   
,goncourt has  complained that little   
tatterdemalions with their split        
breeches have  become on their way to   
,greuze's canvases the ,cupids of       
,boucher  dressed as ,savoyards2 and    
further1 he has put in a mild demurrer  
that  the artist's washerwomen do not   
wash6    ,in strong contrast to         
,greuze's melodramatic1 affected1       
domestic  scenes are those by ,chardin1 
another ,french artist of the eighteenth
  century4  ,no ethical teaching is     
obtruded in his pictures2 there is  no  
pose1 and the spectator can enjoy the   
real poetry of life1 the  sweetness and 
simplicity of well-ordered homes1       
undisturbed by the  poseurs who clamour 
for our regard in many of the pictures  
by ,greuze4    ,illustration3 ,,the     
,,pretty ,,laundress4  7,la ,belle      
,blanchisseuse47    ,another fault of   
,greuze's genre pictures is their       

poverty and  feebleness of colour4      
,there is a general deadness1 and in    
parts an  abuse of purple and violet4   
,some of the tints have a dirty muddled 
look1 and the shadows are heavy and     
brown4  ,still the chief fault is  that 
art in #cg these pictures is relegated  
to a second place2 the  pictures are a  
means1 and not an end4    ,to see many  
of his genre pictures together is to    
receive an  impression of monotony4  ,it
 is clear that the range of the artist  
is  narrow1 that he is making a few     
ideas cover a great area of canvas1  and
 that he ceased to grow intellectually  
at an early stage of his  career4       
,greuze and ,hogarth have often been    
compared1 but there are many  essential 
differences between the two men4  ,there
 was dissimilarity  in their            
temperaments1 and while ,greuze has     
adopted the attitude of a  mild-mannered
 ,sabbath-school superintendent1 towards
 those whose  immorality he would       
correct1 ,hogarth1 as ,professor ,muther

 has  written1 has swung over this human
 animal the stout cudgel of  morality in
 the manner of a sturdy policeman and   
,puritan  bourgeois4  ,charles ,normand 
explains the difference with some       
disregard for international amenity4    
,greuze1 he says1 did not paint  for the
 ,english1 at once drunkards and        
theologians1 maundering on  through     
life1 with a pot of gin in one hand and 
a ,bible in the other4    ,and yet      
,greuze is no ,puritan1 even when he    
preaches most4  ,there is  often an air 
of coquetry and voluptuousness in his   
most serious  pictures4  ,charles ,blanc
 has written that ,greuze is a moralist 
who is  passionately fond of beautiful  
shoulders1 a preacher who loves to see  
and to reveal to us the bosoms of young 
girls2 and ,lady ,dilke has  pointed out
 that even in ,un #ch ,pre de ,famille  
qui lit la ,bible   ses ,enfants 444 the
 instinct which bade him associate with 
his  lessons of grace and morality the  
stimulus of voluptuous charm has        

tempted him to give prominence to the   
girl whose thoughts are far  away1 and  
whose kerchief is torn just where it    
should hide the  budding breast4    ,but
 when criticism has said all it can say 
in dispraise of ,greuze's  pictures1    
even of his genre pictures1 it may be   
seen that ,greuze  was by temperament an
 artist4  ,the melodramatic moralist was
 only  part of the man and not the      
whole4  ,even ,robert ,louis ,stevenson 
had  something of the                   
,shorter-,catechist in his constitution1
 and yet  remains the most romantic and 
interesting figure of the latter-day    
world of letters4    ,it need not be    
forgotten that in the most theatrical   
works of ,greuze  there are many        
beauties4  ,there is often a figure in  
these otherwise  imperfect pictures     
which indicates his love for the        
beautiful1 and in  some of his          
paintings1 for instance in ,un ,pre de  
,famille qui lit la  ,bible  ses        
,enfants1 the melodramatic element1     

though present1 is  not obtrusive1 and  
is more than compensated by the other   
qualities of  tenderness and graceful   
composition4    ,we may now consider the
 other class of ,greuze's paintings1 the
 heads  of children1 and it is in these 
that ,greuze is seen at his best2 it  is
 in these that he redeems himself1 and  
reveals more of the artist4  ,to-day1   
though his other works are scarcely ever
 mentioned1 his heads  #ci of girls and 
boys are treasured in the most costly   
collections1  and are known far and wide
 by means of photographs and other      
reproductions4    ,in many an art       
gallery the beautiful eyes of these     
pretty1  rosy-cheeked children meet our 
own1 and we stay yet again to admire    
their fresh lips and their brown hair1  
in which the piece of blue  ribbon      
nestles with such harmony of colouring4 
,often a light gauze  has been thrown   
round their necks or upon their         
shoulders1 and often1  too1 a posy of   
flowers tucked into the tops of their   

bodices emulates  the carnation and     
white of their complexions4  ,there are 
few pictures  that are more sweet and   
alluring than these heads of children4  
,in ,london it is an easy matter to     
study ,greuze's child portraits1        
because there are a few examples at the 
,national ,gallery1 and more at         
,hertford ,house4  ,standing before     
these canvases the general effect is    
one of sweetness and delicacy1 one      
colour melting into another in  almost  
imperceptible gradations1 and giving an 
impression very unlike  the one we      
receive from the hard edges of a        
painting by ,maclise for  example4  ,the
 colours are not positive1 but have been
 softened and  harmonized4  ,for        
instance1 if a piece of white paper is  
held against  what may seem to be a     
piece of white drapery1 it will be found
 that  the white has been modified into 
a beautiful delicate pearly gray4  ,the 
same test may be applied to the other   
colours4  ,hold a piece of  positive    

blue #dj near to one of ,greuze's       
seemingly blue ribbons1  and it will be 
noticed that a similar modification has 
been effected4    ,the forms1 too1 have 
been rounded1 and have been freed from  
all  angularities4  ,indeed1 ,greuze has
 carried this process as far as it  is  
possible4  ,too much of this smoothing  
and the picture would lose  in          
character1 and would become but a vapid 
piece of work4    ,illustration3 ,,the  
,,listening ,,girl4    ,in the long     
series of heads of girls and boys that  
,greuze painted1  some of the pictures  
are conspicuously better than the rest4 
,of  these may be mentioned the ,head of
 a ,young ,girl ,veiled in ,black1      
which belongs to ,m4 ,leopold           
,goldschmidt1 and two more which are in 
the ,museum at ,besanon1 ,paul          
,strogonoff1 ,infant1 and the ,head of  
a ,young ,girl4  ,also characteristic of
 ,greuze at his best1 and more          
available to the people of this country1
 is ,a ,girl with ,doves4  ,in  the year

 #ahjj he exhibited at the ,salon       
,l',innocence tenant ,deux  ,pigeons4   
,it has not been definitely ascertained1
 but it is possible  that this is the   
beautiful picture that hangs now in the 
,wallace  ,gallery4  ,few paintings by  
,greuze are more pleasing than this one4
  ,the picture is well painted1 and it  
is quite free from ,greuze's  besetting 
sins4  ,where in other pictures one     
finds posturing and  affectation1 one   
finds here the simplicity and sweetness 
of nature4  ,the painting was a         
commission from a ,mr4 ,wilkinson1 and  
,greuze  received #d1ejj francs for it4 
,when ,mr4 ,wilkinson's pictures were   
sold in #ahbh1 ,mr4 ,nieuwenhuys became 
#da the purchaser1 and he paid  #bde    
guineas for the painting4  ,later the   
work became the property of  ,mr4 ,w4   
,wells1 of ,redleaf1 and when1 in #ahdh1
 his pictures were  dispersed1 the      
,marquis of ,hertford gave #ghg #ajs4   
for this one1 and  thus it has become   
part of the splendid collection at      

,hertford ,house1  now belonging to the 
nation4  ,during the ,manchester        
,exhibition of  #aheg the public had a  
chance to see it there1 and it was      
exhibited  again at ,bethnal ,green in  
#ahgd4  ,another picture in which       
,greuze's  style may be studied is ,a   
,girl's ,head1 draped with a ,scarf4    
,in  ,england this is one of the        
best-known of the artist's works4       
,thirty  and more years ago it was      
reproduced in popular publications1 and 
it  has been reproduced many times since
 by various processes4  ,by the  bequest
 of ,mr4 ,r4 ,simmons1 the original     
picture has become the  property of the 
nation1 and it is now the most          
characteristic example  of ,greuze      
amongst those that hang in the ,national
 ,gallery4  ,upon this  canvas one may  
see many of the qualities to which we   
have already  referred4  ,there is more 
than a suspicion of mannerism in the way
  that the hands are held1 and one      
feels1 concerning the shoulder1  that1  

beautiful as it is1 it has been obtruded
 upon the notice of the  spectator with 
a somewhat free anatomical license4     
,the half-open  mouth also gives an     
impression of affectation2 and yet1 when
  criticism has pronounced its last     
word1 the picture still remains         
graceful and seductive4    ,some of the 
faults of ,greuze's manner which #db    
have been noted in  his genre pictures  
appear also in his heads of children4   
,the girls  in a number of the pictures 
are too self-conscious and affected1    
imperfections that one may see          
prominently illustrated in ,fidelity    
and in ,ariadne1 in the ,wallace        
,collection4    ,a few1 indeed1 of      
,greuze's heads can scarcely be called  
paintings of  children at all1 so many  
of the elements of womanhood has he     
mingled  with what is otherwise typical 
of childhood4  ,as representations of   
the charm and the insouciance of        
childhood1 a painting by ,greuze  would 
ill bear comparison1 for example1 with a

 work by ,chardin  amongst his own      
compatriots1 with works by ,reynolds and
 ,gainsborough2  or1 to come to our     
time1 with some of the children of      
,millais1 with  ,watts' ,agathonik ,hlne
 ,ionides1 ,whistler's ,miss ,alexander1
  ,mouat ,loudan's ,isa1 ,john ,lavery's
 ,a ,girl in ,white1 or with ,edward    
,arthur ,walton's ,the ,girl in ,brown4 
,most of the ,french critics who have   
written of ,greuze have drawn  attention
 to this imperfection in the artist's   
paintings of children4  ,de ,goncourt in
 some passages of searching criticism   
has written  regarding a number of these
 heads that they represent the innocence
  of ,paris and of the eighteenth       
century1 an easy innocence which is     
near its fall4  ,and ,de ,goncourt1     
,diderot1 and other writers have        
pointed out that in many the head is the
 head of a girl on the body  of a woman2
 that ,greuze has1 in fact1 put young   
heads on old  shoulders4 #dc ,charles   
,blanc has written of ,une ,jeune ,fille

 qui  pleure la ,mort de son ,oiseau1   
that the head is the head of a child1   
but the grief is the grief of a woman2  
and he has added to this  criticism that
 it is rare to find in ,greuze's        
pictures of this class  the head in     
harmony with the body4    ,despite all  
these shortcomings1 however1 the        
pictures are charming1  but the appeal  
of ,greuze will be specially to the     
young1 who mark the  beauty only1 and   
are unconscious of any pose or any      
incongruity4    ,in addition to the     
kinds of paintings we have mentioned1   
,greuze  showed that he was not quite   
free from the conventions of the period 
by painting a few mythological1         
religious1 and allegorical works1 but   
these are pictures which are not of any 
importance4    ,keep yourself free from 
formulas1 he said to ,count ,henry      
,costa1 but  therein he did not follow  
his own bidding4  ,a writer in the      
,nouvelle  ,biographie ,gnrale has      
recorded that during this era it was    

accepted and taught that a sphere should
 be represented as though it  had many  
sides4  ,greuze at one time accepted    
this absurd dogma1 and  in some of his  
pictures the chubby cheeks of children  
have been  painted as though they had   
facets4  ,his most finished works1      
however1  are free from this blemish4   
,greuze's desire to be an historical    
painter is more evidence that he was not
 without the conventional  ideas which  
have strangled art with such            
persistency4    #dd    ,although ,greuze
 sometimes sketched rapidly1 yet his    
works are usually  the result of slow   
and laborious effort renewed again and  
again4  ,his  plan was to return to his 
picture when he was at his best1 and to 
paint and repaint1 no matter how often1 
until he felt that the work  was as free
 from faults as he could make it4       
#de    ,,his ,,position ,,in ,,french   
,,art    ,during the seventeenth century
 ,france had not an art of her own4     
,the  native painters derived their     

pictures from ,roman or ,grecian        
traditions4  ,they shut their eyes upon 
the beauties of ,nature1  painted       
tedious repetitions of other people's   
notions1 and could not  so much as paint
 their own ,king1 ,louis ,,xiv41 except 
as ,cyrus or as  ,alexander6    ,this   
period of dulness1 pomposity1 and       
general boredom was succeeded  by one of
 light and gaiety1 when the joy and the 
colour of life  received recognition4   
,to this consummation the supreme genius
 of  ,watteau contributed some of the   
most exquisite and poetical pictures  of
 all time1 and delivered ,france from   
the oppressive yoke of the  ,italian    
tradition4  ,watteau had many imitators1
 and his style  dominated art for many  
years1 but eventually freedom           
degenerated into  license1 and even into
 sheer obscenity4  ,count ,henry ,costa1
 visiting  ,paris during this period1   
wrote in a letter to his parents in     
,savoy3  ,greuze1 ,i think1 is not      
partial to ,boucher2 and rightly loathes

 the  filthiness in fashion now1 which  
desecrates art and ruins morality4      
,boucher he described as #df an old     
worldling1 more dissipated and  done up 
than you can imagine4    ,it is in the  
writings of ,diderot that one can see1  
as well as in any  other place1 an      
indication that towards the end of the  
eighteenth  century influential people  
in ,france were growing more and more   
studious and serious4  ,the ideas of    
,rousseau were taking possession  of the
 minds of other people4  ,the nation    
must study ,nature1 and  discover her   
laws4  ,prejudices1 authority1          
tradition1 must all be  examined in the 
light of this new idea4  ,vice must be  
subdued1  artificiality1 insincerity1   
luxury1 false refinements1 must be swept
  away1 and the people must return to a 
life of greater simplicity4  ,man1 by   
nature moral1 had been corrupted by     
civilization1 and it was  therefore the 
least civilized who were the least      
corrupt4    ,ideas like these1 set forth

 with the power and the burning zeal of 
,rousseau1 and with the deftness of     
,diderot1 had prepared the minds of  the
 ,parisians to receive the genre        
pictures of ,greuze1 for to some  extent
 he is an advocate of these ideas in his
 pictures1 seeing that  virtues are     
attributed in a generous measure to the 
poor and  downtrodden of the people4    
,it is thus that1 breaking away from the
 style of the painters who did  little  
more than pander to the ,french ,court1 
the pictures of ,greuze  mark with      
perfect clearness the beginning of a new
 tendency which was  making itself felt 
in ,paris at the end of the eighteenth  
century4  ,instead of adding to the     
great store of ftes #dg galantes1 and   
the triumphs of love of the time1       
,greuze looked for his subjects upon    
the quays1 and boulevards1 and          
market-places1 and in the cottages of   
humble people4    ,courage1 my good     
,greuze1 said ,diderot of one of        
,greuze's pictures  of domestic drama2  

introduce morality into painting4       
,what6 has not  the palette been long   
enough1 and too long1 consecrated to    
debauchery  and vice8  ,ought we not to 
be delighted at seeing it at last1      
united  with dramatic poetry1 in        
instructing1 correcting us1 and inviting
 us  to virtue8    ,living amidst such  
ideas as these1 ,greuze founded in      
,france1 in the  words of ,de ,goncourt1
 the deplorable school of the literary  
painter1  and the moralizing artist1 or 
of that barbaric1 story-telling art1  as
 ,muther1 writing in a similar strain1  
has described it4    ,it was this manner
 of painting that brought out what      
similarity there  is between ,hogarth   
and ,greuze1 who has been called a      
sentimental  ,hogarth4  ,like the       
painter of ,the ,rake's ,progress1      
,greuze told  moral tales in a series of
 pictures in which virtue is exalted and
  vice abashed1 a kind of painting quite
 different from the pictures  which had 
hitherto been exhibited in ,paris4      

,truly1 as ,charles  ,normand has       
written1 the hour of the reaction       
against the pastorals  and the          
mythological insipidities of ,boucher   
had sounded4  ,it was  ,greuze who was  
the pioneer in the new departure1 and he
 reaped the  reward4  ,his fault is that
 he replaced one convention by another4 
,hitherto #dh the ,court had been all in
 all1 but now had arrived1 in  the      
phrase of ,charles ,blanc1 l'usurpation 
bourgeoise4      ,yet though ,greuze    
thus parted from his predecessors1 and1 
at his  best1 went along the line of    
progress towards a study of ,nature at  
first hand1 he brought about no violent 
change such as was seen in  ,england    
when ,madox ,brown and the              
,pre-,raphaelites broke in upon the     
complacent mediocrities who represented 
art in ,england during early  ,victorian
 times4    ,though he preached against  
the ardent sensuality of his era1 his   
own  pictures were not wholly free from 
it1 and in the collection at  ,hertford 

,house his ,l',offrande a l',amour1 and 
particularly ,la  ,bacchante1 strike no 
new note amongst the other paintings of 
the  same period4  ,there is not the    
great difference that would be noticed  
if an early ,millais were to be hung    
amidst a collection of the works  of    
,maclise1 ,landseer1 ,collins1 ,newton1 
,leslie1 ,mulready1 and ,webster4       
,greuze did not free ,france in the same
 way that the ,pre-,raphaelites  loosed 
the bonds of convention and tradition in
 our own country4    ,greuze founded no 
school1 and indeed outlived his own     
movement2 for  he and ,fragonard were   
left in hopeless isolation when the     
,revolution  overwhelmed ,france4       
,there are few more pathetic passages in
 the  lives of painters than those which
 relate how1 for the sake of their      
daily bread1 these poor old men made #di
 ineffectual attempts1  ,fragonard with 
his ,le ,grand ,prtre ,corsus se        
sacrifie pour sauver  ,callirrho1 and   
,greuze with his ,ariadne at ,naxos1 to 

adapt  themselves to the new situation4 
,the ,revolution1 so far from freeing   
art in ,france1 brought about1  under   
,david--excellent as he was as a painter
 of portraits--a  reaction to a barren1 
wearisome classicism1 represented by    
pictures  which are now absolutely      
without attraction4  ,instead of        
studying  ,nature1 the painters studied 
the statues and the friezes of the      
ancients4  ,they became antiquaries and 
geometricians1 and left the  open air to
 weary themselves in musty libraries1 in
 the pursuit of  archological accuracy4 
,formulas and conventions1 traditions   
and  self-constituted authority were    
once more exalted upon pedestals1 and   
the century which opened with the pipes 
and timbrels of ,watteau  closed with   
the prosing of the most tedious bores4  
,so successfully did ,david put back the
 clock1 that it was not until  the      
nineteenth century was nearly thirty    
years of age that the  artists of       
,france1 inspired1 as we love to think1 

by our own ,john  ,constable1 issued    
from the house of bondage to study      
,nature in the  forest of               
,fontainebleau4          #ej    ,,our   
,,illustrations    ,the ,kiss 7,le      
,baiser ,jet74--,although this work has 
not been  reproduced so many times as   
,la ,cruche ,casse1 it yet ranks with   
that painting as one of the most        
fascinating of the works of ,greuze4  ,a
 young woman looks from the window of   
her room4  ,she has received a  letter  
from the hands of her lover1 to whom she
 throws a kiss as he  departs4  ,in his 
treatment of this subject ,greuze has   
shown that it  was not a lack of        
capacity that caused him sometimes to   
lapse into  melodrama4  ,his acute      
feeling for what is beautiful has been  
expressed on this canvas with remarkable
 skill4  ,writing of the  painting in   
#agfe1 ,diderot called it a charming    
picture1 and ,charles  ,normand1 in     
giving a description of the work1 has   
written3 ,the  eighteenth century1      

amorous and unrestrained1 has been made 
to live  again in that woman1 who1 her  
eyes full of longing1 her mouth partly  
opened1 her throat scarcely veiled by a 
light gauze1 throws from her  window a  
kiss to her lover4  ,the seductive      
shapeliness of her neck1  the expression
 of love1 the hand carried tenderly to  
her lips1 the  whole effect of her      
beautiful figure1 which palpitates at   
the sight  of her lover1 justifies the  
title of ,la #ea ,voluptueuse which the 
painter has also given to the picture4  
,a copy of this painting1 by  ,c4       
,turner1 was sold in ,london in #aijb   
for #acf4    ,illustration3 ,,the       
,,kiss4  7,le ,baiser ,jet47      ,the  
,village ,bride 7,l',accorde de         
,village74--,this is the short  title of
 the work ,un ,mariage  l'instant o le  
pre de l'accorde  dlivre la dot  son    
gendre4  ,the first title was ,un ,pre  
qui vient  de payer la dot de sa ,fille4
  ,the scene is a great country kitchen1
  which has a freedom from furniture    

that is refreshing in these days  of    
senseless overcrowding4  ,stone steps   
lead from the kitchen to an  upper      
chamber4  ,a shelf1 a gun1 a lantern1 a 
great cupboard1 and a  few chairs and a 
table1 would almost complete an         
inventory of the  movables4  ,twelve    
people1 arranged as though they were on 
the stage  of a theatre1 or for a       
tableau vivant1 take part in the scene4 
,the  parish official1 sitting at a     
small table1 has registered the         
marriage1 and one of the children toys  
with the document4  ,the father  of the 
bride1 a venerable old man with white   
hair1 has just handed to  his son-in-law
 a small leather bag1 containing his    
daughter's  marriage portion1 and he is 
now holding forth in true melodramatic  
style1 his face to the gallery1 and1 as 
one may fancy1 the limelight  streaming 
on his head4  ,the bridegroom1 a tall1  
handsome fellow1  listens in a          
respectful attitude2 and the pretty     
bride1 whose eyes  are downcast1 has her

 arm linked in his1 and the fingers of  
one hand  are laid lovingly upon one of 
his hands4  ,her other arm is held by   
her mother1 #eb a comely matron1 dressed
 in simple and picturesque  attire4     
,the bride's sisters and brother watch  
with intense interest1  except one      
little girl of five or six years1 who   
feeds a hen and  chickens on the kitchen
 floor4  ,another sister has her head   
upon the  bride's shoulder1 and a third 
is weeping4  ,in the incident of one of 
the chickens1 balanced on the edge of   
the dish of water1 trying its  wings1   
some writers have seen an allegorical   
reference to the  marriage4  ,it is said
 that the head of the bride is a        
portrait of  ,mademoiselle ,ducreux when
 she was fifteen years of age4  ,in this
  painting ,greuze's tendency to cause  
his figures to assume  self-conscious   
poses is apparent2 but there is not so  
much of  theatricality here as to spoil 
the picture1 and thus one may still     
derive some pleasure from a             

contemplation of the scene4  ,it is     
interesting to remember that this is the
 picture which caused such a  sensation 
during the last few days of the ,salon  
of #agfa4  ,it was  bought by ,monsieur 
de ,marigny for #c1jjj livres1 and at   
the sale of  his pictures1 twenty years 
later1 the price paid for it was #af1fej
  livres4  ,the picture is now in the   
,louvre in ,paris4  ,it has often  been 
reproduced4  ,during the life of the    
artist it was engraved by  ,flipart1 and
 then was reproduced in colours by      
,alix4  ,greuze also  painted a replica 
of the picture4      ,illustration3     
,,robespierre4    ,portrait of          
,maximilien ,marie ,isidore             
,robespierre4--,in ,john ,morley's      
,critical ,miscellanies #ec we are told 
that ,in the ,salon of #agia  an artist 
exhibited ,robespierre's portrait1      
simply inscribing it ,the               
,incorruptible4  ,throngs passed before 
it every day1 and ratified the          
honourable designation by eager murmurs 

of approval4  ,the democratic  journals 
were loud in panegyric on the unsleeping
 sentinel of  liberty4  ,they loved to  
speak of him as the modern ,fabricius1  
and  delighted to recall the words of   
,pyrrhus1 that it is easier to turn  the
 sun from its course than to turn       
,fabricius from the path of  honour4    
,mr4 ,a4 ,g4 ,temple1 ,f4,s4,a41 has    
written recently that efforts  have been
 made to identify the ,salon portrait   
with this one1 but  unsuccessfully4     
,robespierre's ancestors were ,irish    
people1 but he  was born at ,arras4     
,after a successful career as a lawyer  
he became a  member of the              
,states-,general1 and ,mirabeau         
prophesied1 ,that young  man believes   
what he says2 he will go far4  ,carlyle 
has described  him as ,that anxious1    
slight1 ineffectual-looking man1 under  
thirty1  in spectacles2 his eyes 7were  
the glasses off7 troubled1 careful2     
with upturned face1 snuffing dimly the  
uncertain future times2  complexion of a

 multiplex1 atrabiliar colour1 the final
 shade of  which may be pale sea-green4 
,he was small and weakly1 fond of       
solitude1 and sober in most things      
except in speech4  ,fluent and          
rhetorical1 he soon won fame with the   
populace2 but an analysis of  his       
speeches reveals them full of sound and 
fury1 signifying  nothing4  ,the latest 
criticism has dubbed him a phrase-making
 #ed  charlatan4  ,on ,july #bh1 #agid1 
still clad in the inevitable blue  coat1
 white waistcoat1 short yellow breeches1
 white stockings1 and  shoes with silver
 buckles1 he himself perished on the    
guillotine that  had removed so many of 
his enemies4      ,the ,listening       
,girl4--,another of ,greuze's           
exceedingly pretty heads4  ,this        
picture1 like the ,girl's ,head draped  
with a ,scarf in the  ,national         
,gallery1 is an excellent representative
 of that numerous  class of the artist's
 work that consists of the heads of     
girls4  ,the  face is exceedingly       

dainty1 and the workmanship excellent4  
,the  picture forms one of the ,wallace 
,collection1 and is1 therefore1  easily 
accessible to the public4  ,although it 
is now called ,the  ,listening ,girl1 it
 is not certain that this title         
expresses the  intention of the artist4 
,illustration3 ,,the ,,broken ,,pitcher4
 7,la ,cruche ,casse7    ,the ,broken   
,pitcher 7,la ,cruche ,casse74--,no     
picture by ,greuze is  more widely known
 than this one4  ,in one of ,madame     
,roland's letters  we are able to gain  
an idea of what was thought of the work 
at the  time that it was painted4  ,she 
has written3 ,it is a girl1 nave1  rosy1
 charming1 who has broken her pitcher4  
,she holds it on her arm1  near to the  
fountain where the accident has         
happened4  ,her eyes are  not too wide  
open2 her mouth is still partly open4   
,she wonders what  account to give of   
the misfortune1 and does not know       
whether she is  to blame or not4  ,it   
would #ee not be possible to find       

anything more  piquant or more pretty1  
and the only matter upon which one would
 be  right to reproach ,monsieur ,greuze
 is that he has not made the little     
girl so sorry but what she would be     
ready to go to the fountain  again4     
,the derangement of the draperies1 the  
incongruity of the  lapful of flowers1  
the impossible way in which the pitcher 
is being  carried1 are not less         
characteristic of ,greuze than the sweet
 face  and the general charm and beauty 
of the painting4  ,it is1 indeed1 one   
of ,greuze's most winsome works1 and its
 fascination will continue to  captivate
 all but the most hypercritical4  ,the  
original is in the  ,louvre1 but ,greuze
 painted the subject again with         
modifications1 and  there are a number  
of sketches and studies in existence4   
,for  instance1 in the ,national        
,gallery of ,scotland there is the      
preliminary sketch in oils for this     
work1 and many prefer this sketch  to   
some of ,greuze's more finished         

pictures4      ,the ,milkmaid 7,la      
,laitire74--,pretty as is this picture1 
it  embodies a city man's sentimentality
 concerning the work of a farm4  ,the   
hard labour of an actual milkmaid1 and  
the peculiar conditions of  her         
employment1 are especially fatal to     
dainty hands1 for instance4  ,thus1 as  
the presentment of a milkmaid1 the      
picture is far from any  truth to       
,nature2 but as an engaging girl-picture
 it is one of  ,greuze's most graceful  
and successful works4  ,in #ahba it was 
sold for  #g1baj francs1 but in #ahii1  
when #ef it was bequeathed to the       
,louvre  by ,baroness de ,rothschild1   
its value was estimated at #fjj1jjj     
francs4    ,illustration3 ,,the         
,,milkmaid4 7,la ,laitire47             
,innocence4--,many of the excellent     
qualities of ,greuze's work appear  in  
this attractive picture4  ,it is true   
that the lamb is unfortunate1  and1 as  
,greuze's lambs usually are1 is more    
reminiscent of the  ,lowther ,arcade    

than of the meadow4  ,here also we see  
the head of a  girl on the body of a    
woman2 but the general effect of the    
picture is  one of sweetness and        
tenderness1 and the girl's expression is
 free  from the affectations which have 
marred so many of the artist's          
paintings4  ,this picture is one of the 
,wallace ,collection4      ,the ,pretty 
,laundress 7,la ,belle                  
,blanchisseuse74--,de ,goncourt1 in a   
criticism of ,greuze's pictures1 has    
written that the work that goes  on in  
his paintings is but a simulation of    
work--that his washerwomen  do not wash4
  ,it may be that this is the picture   
which inspired the  criticism4  ,a      
charming girl1 elegantly dressed1 sits  
in an impossible  position1 as far as   
any effective washing is concerned1     
before a  ridiculously little bowl4     
,the whole picture is most attractive1  
but  it is not washing day2 and1        
perhaps1 after all1 washing day is not  
precisely the best subject that an      

artist could have selected for          
sublimation4  ,the picture is now in the
 collection of ,count ,axel             
,wachtmeister1 at ,wanas1 in ,germany4  
#eg    ,,the ,,chief ,,works ,,of       
,,greuze    ,the largest collection of  
,greuze's pictures is not in his own    
country1 but is here in ,england1 at    
,hertford ,house4  ,the paintings       
forming that collection were included in
 the ,wallace bequest1 and  thus they   
have become the property of the nation4 
,most other  ,european countries have   
secured examples of ,greuze's work1 and 
several of his paintings may also be    
seen in ,america4        ,,great        
,,britain4    ,,wallace ,,collection1   
,in this collection alone there are     
twenty-one examples of the work of      
,greuze4  ,some of these are of the     
best1 and a few illustrate the  artist's
 imperfections4  ,for instance1 before  
,fidelity and  ,ariadne one has the same
 unpleasant sensation as when a girl    
spoils  the effect of her beauty by     

stagey poses and by sentimental         
attitudinizing4  ,a ,bacchante is gross 
and voluptuous4  ,the most  important   
pictures in the collection are3      ,a 
,girl with ,doves4 7,see p4 #dj47       
,the ,listening ,girl4  7,see p4 #ed47  
,portrait of ,mdlle4 ,sophie ,arnould4  
,the ,votive ,offering ,to ,cupid4      
,the ,broken ,mirror4    ,innocence4    
7,see p4 #ef47    ,espiglerie1    ,girl 
,with ,a ,gauze ,scarf4      #eh        
,,national ,,gallery4      ,girl's ,head
 ,draped with a ,scarf 7,see p4 #da47   
,the ,head of a ,girl4    ,girl with an 
,apple4    ,girl with a ,lamb4          
,,buckingham ,,palace4    ,a ,mother and
 ,three ,children4    ,the mother       
indicates1 by a look1 that she does not 
wish the oldest  boy to disturb the     
youngest by playing his flute4          
,girl in ,cap seated on a ,chair4    ,a 
,girl's ,head4    ,there are also       
pictures by ,greuze in many of the      
galleries of private  collectors4  ,for 
instance1 examples may be seen in the   

collections of  the ,duke of            
,wellington1 the ,earl of ,rosebery1 the
 ,earl of ,dudley1 the  ,earl of        
,northbrook1 ,lord ,yarborough1 the     
,marquis of ,lansdowne1 ,sir  ,frederic 
,cook1 ,bart41 ,mr4 ,alfred de          
,rothschild1 ,mr4 ,reginald ,vaile1     
,mr4 ,h4 ,l4 ,bischoffsheim1 ,mr4       
,pierpont ,morgan1 ,mr4 ,lesser ,lesser1
 ,mr4  ,george ,donaldson1 ,mr4 ,martin 
,colnaghi1 ,mr4 ,charles ,morrison1 ,mr4
  ,beit1 and others4      ,,national    
,,gallery ,,of ,,scotland4      ,girl   
with ,dead ,canary4    ,girl with       
,broken ,jar4    ,this is a sketch in   
oils of the idea which ,greuze          
afterwards painted  as ,the ,broken     
,pitcher1 the famous picture that now   
hangs in the  ,louvre4      ,boy with   
,lesson-,book4    ,interior of a        
,cottage4    ,girl with ,folded ,hands4 
,other examples of the works of ,greuze 
in ,scotland are those in the           
collection of ,lord ,murray4      #ei   
,,france4    ,,paris1 ,,louvre4         

,during the period of unrest that       
accompanied and followed the            
,revolution1 many notable pictures were 
sold from ,france1 and thus the  largest
 collection of pictures by ,greuze is   
not to be found in  ,greuze's own       
country4  ,in the ,louvre1 however1 all 
,greuze's  characteristics may be       
studied in one or other of the works    
that hang  there4      ,l'accorde de    
,village4  7,see p4 #ea47    ,la        
,laitire4  7,see p4 #ee47    ,la ,cruche
 ,casse4  7,see p4 #ed47    ,la         
,maldiction ,paternelle4    ,le ,fils   
,puni4    ,le ,portrait de l',artiste4  
,le ,portrait du ,peintre ,jeaurat4     
,several ,heads ,of ,girls4      ,,muse 
,,fabre  ,,montpellier4      ,la ,prire 
du ,matin4    ,le ,gteau des ,rois4     
,le ,petit ,mathmaticien4    ,jeune     
,fille1 les ,mains ,jointes4    ,la     
,jeune ,fille au ,panier4    ,tte de    
,jeune ,fille4    ,etude d'un ,enfant de
 ,quatre  ,cinque ,ans4                 
,,besan,,on4    ,here are two           

particularly good examples of ,greuze at
 his best3      ,paul ,strogonoff1      
,enfant4    ,tte ,de ,jeune ,fille4     
#fj    ,,mus,e ,,cond4    ,tendre ,dsir4
    ,versailles has examples1 and the   
traveller to any of the following1  and 
to a few other towns1 will find works by
 ,greuze3 ,aix1 ,angers1  ,cherbourg1   
,dijon1 ,compigne1 ,douai1 ,lille1      
,lyons1 ,marseille1 ,nantes1  ,nmes1    
,rouen1 ,tournus1 ,troyes2 and the      
members of the ,rothschild  family have 
many examples at their various places of
 residence4        ,,germany4    ,in    
,germany ,greuze is represented by ,la  
,belle ,blanchisseuse1 in the           
collection of ,count ,axel              
,wachtmeister1 at ,wanas1 and by        
pictures in  the ,art ,galleries of     
,berlin1 ,leipzig1 ,karlsruhe1 ,munich1 
and ,metz4        ,,russia4    ,,st4    
,,petersburg1 ,l',,hermitage4    ,la    
,paralytique ,servi par ses ,enfants    
,,united ,,states4    ,pictures by      
,greuze may be seen at ,boston and at   

,philadelphia4          #fa    ,,recent 
,,chief ,,books ,,on ,,greuze           
,l',art du ,x,v,i,i,ime4 ,sicle4        
,edmond and ,jules de ,goncourt1 ,paris4
  #ahed4    ,histoire ,de l',art        
,pendant la ,revolution4  ,jules        
,renouvier1 ,paris4  #ahfc4    ,les     
,artistes ,clbres3 ,greuze4  ,charles   
,normand1 ,paris4  #ahhe4    ,histoire  
des ,peintres de toutes les coles4      
,charles ,blanc1 ,paris4  #ahfb4        
,french ,painters of the ,eighteenth    
,century4  ,lady ,dilke1 ,london4       
#ahii4    ,the ,history of ,modern      
,painting1 ,vol4 ,i4  ,richard ,muther1 
,london4  #ahie4          ,,printed ,,by
    ,,billing ,,and ,,sons1 ,,limited1  
,,guildford