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- Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725 - 1805)
- Le tendre ressouvenir (Tender memory)
- France
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- Date: 1762–3
- Object Type: Painting
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Image size: 40 x 32 cm
- Object size: Made up to, 42 x 33.7 cm
- Inv: P454
- Location: Boudoir
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- Description
- Provenance
- Further Reading
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- The painting is a highly emblematic work for the changes in the depiction of emotion and new social values in the third quarter of the eighteenth century. A young widow re-reads old letters before the bust of her deceased husband, while the faithful and cowed spaniel by her side serves to underline the picture’s theme of mourning and fidelity. The image expresses the new value of marriage based on sentimental feelings between the spouses. While highly contemporary in its message, the painting harks back to the polished style of Dutch Fijnschilders (literally, ‘fine painters’), such as Metsu and Mieris. The painting was painted before 1763. It was listed alongside 'The Broken Mirror' (P454) in the Salon catalogue of that year, but not exhibited.