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Maker(s):Greuze, Jean-Baptiste
Culture:French (1725 - 1805)
Title:Woman Holding a Crucifix
Date Made:1765
Type:Drawing
Materials:red chalk counterproof on cream laid paper
Place Made:France
Measurements:sheet: 19 x 15 in.; 48.26 x 38.1 cm
Accession Number:  SC 1953.73
Credit Line:Purchased
Museum Collection:  Smith College Museum of Art
1953_73.jpg

Description:
woman in flowing dress seated in a chair holding cross in proper left hand before her face, proper right arm extended on wall

Label Text:
Label text for ARH 240 French and Italian Drawings Renaissance through Romanticism, written by Sara Ottomano, class of 2015:

This red chalk drawing is a specific type of work called a counterproof. A counterproof is a reversed impression taken from a fresh red chalk drawing by pressing it against a dampened sheet of paper. The figure of a mournful, seated woman clutching the bed of a sickly man and holding a crucifix to her forehead is connected with Greuze’s painting of The Punished Son (below). Apparently the public found this figure too overly dramatic: after the first exhibition of the painting, Greuze painted out the crucifix due to negative reactions.

Tags:
women; costume; religion; Christianity

Subjects:
Religion; Christianity; Costume

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+1953.73

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.

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