Head of a Young Woman

Jean-Baptiste Greuze painted this head of a young woman, possibly in the 1780s, as one of his characteristic tetes d'expression — idealized female heads expressing gentle emotion or moral sentiment. Greuze achieved enormous fame at the Paris Salon in the 1760s for his moralizing genre scenes, championed by Diderot. However, his attempt to gain recognition as a history painter in 1769 was rejected by the Academie, and he spent his later years producing these popular but less ambitious head studies.

Greuze's technique in these head studies features soft, blended flesh painting with a limited palette emphasizing rosy cheeks and luminous skin. The hair and drapery are handled with broader, more suggestive strokes that contrast with the smooth modeling of the face.