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Jean-Baptiste Greuze, 'A Girl with a Lamb', before 1775

About the work

Overview

A young girl tenderly holds a lamb, which is decorated with a blue ribbon. Her loose-fitting white chemise has slipped off her shoulder. The girl and lamb occupy the immediate foreground, making them seem close to us and giving the picture a feeling of intimacy.

The lamb here probably symbolises innocence, patience, gentleness and humility. However, Greuze’s painting sends mixed messages as although these qualities are also suggested by the girl’s youth and seemingly innocent gaze, her bare shoulder and provocatively parted lips suggest a certain knowing sensuality.

Greuze’s pictures of young women cuddling pets, implying their ability to feel emotion, relate to the eighteenth-century cult of ’sensibility' or sentiment fostered by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and others. This painting is unfinished and is not a portrait. Greuze’s single-figure paintings were highly sought-after, relatively quick to produce, and made good money for him.

Key facts

Details

Full title
A Girl with a Lamb
Artist dates
1725 - 1805
Date made
before 1775
Medium and support
oil on canvas
Dimensions
54.6 × 44.5 cm
Acquisition credit
Bequeathed by Mary Mohl, 1884
Inventory number
NG1154
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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