A Bacchante

This Bacchante from around 1790 belongs to a group of sensual female figures Greuze produced in his later career, blending classical mythology with the coy eroticism that had always underpinned his supposedly innocent genre heads. These works circulated widely among collectors and were frequently copied and engraved. Characteristic of the artist's mature approach, the work displays theatrically posed figures, expressive faces registering emotion with unsubtle directness, a palette ranging from Rococo pastels in early works to colder, more sober tones after the Revolution.

Greuze employs warm flesh tones and flowing drapery painted with loose, confident brushwork, with the figure emerging from a dark background in a manner indebted to Baroque tradition.