ticketsMember | Make a donation

Study of a Woman’s Head

ca. 1780
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 639
Greuze’s contemporaries would have referred to this intense and affecting close-up of a model as a tête d’expression, meaning an expressive head or character study. Such works adhered to longstanding traditions about how best to depict emotions and convey the narratives of historical or biblical subjects. Although this highly finished depiction of a woman’s head has been associated with the imploring female protagonists in several of Greuze’s moralizing genre scenes, it appears to have been an independent painting. Many of Greuze’s têtes d’expression circulated successfully on the eighteenth-century art market.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Study of a Woman’s Head
  • Artist: Jean-Baptiste Greuze (French, Tournus 1725–1805 Paris)
  • Date: ca. 1780
  • Medium: Oil on wood
  • Dimensions: 18 1/2 x 16 in. (47 x 40.6 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, 1871
  • Object Number: 71.91
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Head of a Woman, after Greuze, from "Etchings of Pictures in the Metropolitan Museum New York", Jules-Ferdinand Jacquemart French, Etching; third state of four (Gonse)
Head of a Woman, after Greuze, from "Etchings of Pictures in the Metropolitan Museum New York"
Multiple artists/makers
1871
Head of a Woman, after Greuze, Jules-Ferdinand Jacquemart French, Etching on chine collé
Head of a Woman, after Greuze
Multiple artists/makers
1871
Head of a Woman, after Greuze
Multiple artists/makers
1871
Study of a Hand, Jean-Baptiste Greuze French, Red and black chalk
Study of a Hand
Jean-Baptiste Greuze
ca. 1760–80
Girl's Head, Jean-Baptiste Greuze French, Red chalk
Girl's Head
Jean-Baptiste Greuze
n.d.

Related Content

Perspectives

Articles, audio, and video from The Met's online magazine.

Timeline of Art History

Entries from The Met's art encyclopedia.

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Showing 4 of 5

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.