The Guilty and Repentant Daughter

early 1770s

Jean-Baptiste Greuze

(French, 1725–1805)

Culture

France, 18th century

Medium

brush and black and gray wash over black chalk

Support

Cream(1) laid paper, perimeter mounted to cream(3) board, hinged to tertiary support of board

Measurements

Sheet: 49.8 x 64.3 cm (19 5/8 x 25 5/16 in.); Secondary Support: 49.8 x 64.3 cm (19 5/8 x 25 5/16 in.); Tertiary Support: 61.3 x 78.8 cm (24 1/8 x 31 in.)

Credit Line

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1989.46

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The man who served as the model for the father in Greuze's drawing also appears as a butcher in another sheet by the artist.

Description

This drawing belongs to a group of highly finished drawings created by Jean-Baptiste Greuze during the 1770s, many of which focused on family crises and were characterized by groups of figures set in shallow interior spaces. Although the precise subject of the work is unknown, it shows a father and his son kneeling before him. The title, which comes from an inscription on the drawing's original frame, refers to the girl entering the room at right, who is presumably disgraced due to a pregnancy out of wedlock. She is preceded by a woman who angrily confronts the family, gesturing to the girl's swollen stomach, perhaps accusing either the old or young man of impregnating the girl.