(Tournus 1725-1805 Paris) Study of a female figure with oustretched arms; a detail study for the painting "Purity abducted by Love”, c. 1786, red chalk, on laid paper, 51,5 x 32,7 cm, mounted, unframed, (Sch)

The present drawing is a detail study for the allegorical painting "Purity abducted by love" in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (Inv. R. F. 2154). The female figure on the right margin is desperately trying to discourage a young girl from following Cupido who is representing love, whereas the girl’s innocence is symbolised by a white dress which she is wearing together with a blue sash.

Only a few preliminary studies for the painting exist; two of them are each preserved in the Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam (F I 242) and in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Inv. 50.145.20; 49.131.3). Another study for the head and the shoulder of Cupid is kept in the Collection of Baron Alain de Gunzberg in Paris.

Literature: comp. Edgar Munhall, Evelyne Mornat (Eds.), Jean-Baptiste Greuze, 1725-1805, Exh. Cat. Dijon, Musée des beaux-arts, 11th June – 7th August 1977, Cat. 100, p. 210-211.

The present drawing is a detail study for the allegorical painting "Purity abducted by love" in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (Inv. R. F. 2154). The female figure on the right margin is desperately trying to discourage a young girl from following Cupido who is representing love, whereas the girl’s innocence is symbolised by a white dress which she is wearing together with a blue sash. Only a few preliminary studies for the painting exist; two of them are each preserved in the Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam (F I 242) and in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Inv. 50.145.20; 49.131.3). Another study for the head and the shoulder of Cupid is kept in the Collection of Baron Alain de Gunzberg in Paris. Literature: comp. Edgar Munhall, Evelyne Mornat (Eds.), Jean-Baptiste Greuze, 1725-1805, Exh. Cat. Dijon, Musée des beaux-arts, 11th June – 7th August 1977, Cat. 100, p. 210-211.