Girl with a dog in her hands

This charming study of a girl holding a dog exemplifies the sentimental subjects that made Greuze one of the most commercially successful French painters of the later eighteenth century. The pairing of children or young women with animals was a recurring motif suggesting natural innocence and tenderness. 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's fluent handling of paint captures the textures of the dog's fur and the girl's clothing with equal skill, unified by warm, golden lighting.