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Young Knitter Asleep

Maker (French, 1725 - 1805)
Additional Title(s)
  • La Tricoteuse Endormi
ClassificationsPAINTINGS
Dateca. 1759
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions27 x 22 in. (68.6 x 55.9 cm.) sight-size dimensions: 23 1/2 x 19 1/2 in. (59.7 x 49.5 cm.)
InscribedPartially legible inscription on the reverse of the stretcher: Collection du Prince de Chimay / Apartenant a la Contesse Gruffule … Caraman Chimay. / La … mmiel … innocence / La petite Dormeuse / … 1770, d'apres la petite Marie Paper label on verso: 50075
Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Adele S. Browning Memorial Collection, gift of Mildred Browning Green and Honorable Lucius Peyton Green
Label TextBest known for his sentimental paintings of family life, Greuze offers here a sensitive depiction of a girl who has fallen asleep while knitting a stocking, her hands still grasping the fine needles. The artist has captured the translucency of his young subject’s closed eyelids and the dewy softness of her slightly parted lips. Is the painting a comment on the girl’s inattention to her work, or a tender portrayal of her childish features in the relaxation of sleep?
Status
On view
Object number78.20.8
Terms
    Hauling in the Net, Twilight
    Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
    n.d.
    Object number: 26.117
    Mary Josephine Drummond, Condesa de Castelblanco, as Astrea
    Jean-Baptiste Oudry
    ca. 1710
    Object number: 78.20.11
    Musical Trio
    Jean-Baptiste Pater
    ca. 1730
    Object number: 78.20.15
    The Swing
    Jean-Baptiste Pater
    ca. 1730
    Object number: 78.20.14
    Dans le Parc
    Jean-Baptiste Hilair
    ca. 1795
    Object number: 78.20.9A
    Dans le Jardin
    Jean-Baptiste Hilair
    ca. 1795
    Object number: 78.20.9B
    Comtesse Pélagie Roza Potocka Sapieha
    Auguste Louis Jean Baptiste Riviere
    ca. 1793 -1794
    Object number: 78.20.17
    Child with Bird Cage
    Jean-Baptiste Pigalle
    ca. 1823
    Object number: 11.39
    Child with Bird and Apple
    Jean-Baptiste Pigalle
    ca. 1823
    Object number: 11.40
    Child
    Jean-Baptiste Pigalle
    after 1750
    Object number: 27.83
    Jean-Baptiste Tilliard
    ca. 1760
    Object number: 78.20.71A
    Jean-Baptiste Tilliard
    ca. 1760
    Object number: 78.20.71B