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The Interrupted Sleep
François Boucher (French, 1703–1770)
Boucher was known for his depictions of mythological and pastoral scenes. In The Interrupted Sleep, he depicts a simple scene of play between a shepherd and shepherdess. After it was displayed at the Salon of 1753, the painting hung in a chateau belonging to Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis the XV. -
The Toilet of Venus
François Boucher
Another favorite of Madame de Pompadour, this painting was commissioned by her for her Chateau de Bellevue near Paris. -
Indolence
Painted between 1756-1757
Jean-Baptiste Greuze (French, 1725-1805)
Indolence was one of four pieces that Greuze displayed at the Salon of 1757. He is notable for his use of textures and tones of color. For example, in this work, we can see the difference in the fabrics, such as the coarseness of the skirt, smoothness of the glass, and the soft sensuousness of the girl’s skin. -
Ancient Rome
Giovanni Paolo Pinini (Italian, Roman, 1691-1765)
This pendant (one of a pair) shows the most famous ancient monuments of Rome, such as the Pantheon, the Colosseum, Trajan’s Column, the Farnese Hercules, and the Laocoön. It was painted for the Duke de Choiseul, and Panini painted the duke and himself into the painting. -
Augustus and Cleopatra
Painted between 1759-1761
Anton Raphael Mengs (German, 1728 - 1779)
Augustus and Cleopatra depicts Octavianus Augustus Caesar offering mercy to Cleopatra after the defeat and death of Mark Anthony. Mengs is particularly known for his care and attention to detail despite the grandness of his paintings. -
Apollo and the Muses on Parnassus
Anton Raphael Mengs (German, 1728-1779)
Painted between 1760-1761
Mengs’ Apollo and the Muses on Parnassus is considered one of the first examples of Neoclassical painting. It is the ceiling fresco of the Villa Albani. -
Diana and Cupid
Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (Italian, 1708-1787)
Diana and Cupid is a pendant to a portrait painted for Sir Humphrey Morice; the portrait uses the same Roman countryside found in this painting as a background. Here, Diana withholds a hunting bow from Cupid. This is considered one of Batoni’s finest pieces. The figure of Diana is fashioned after the statue of the sleeping Ariadne in the Vatican. -
Achilles Lamenting the Death of Patroclus
Gavin Hamilton (Scottish, 1723 - 1798)
Painted between 1760-1763
Hamilton painted six canvases in a series on Homer’s Iliad; each canvas was commissioned by a different patron. This one illustrates Achilles’ grief and anguish over the death of his friend Patroclus, who was killed by the Trojans. -
Madame de Pompadour at her Tambour Frame
François-Hubert Drouais (French 1727-1775)
Madame de Pompadour was a patron of the arts and had a significant influence on the fashion and public policy of France. This is the last of a large number of paintings of Madame done by the most notable painters of the day. The head was inserted into the paint via a rectangle of canvas and is most likely taken from real life, while the rest of the painting was finished in May 1763, the month after she died. -
Portrait of a Young Man
Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (Italian 1708-1787)
Painted between 1760-1765
The identity of the young man in this portrait is unknown but is most likely French. At the height of his career, Batoni was the most sought-after portrait painter. Here we see several of Batoni’s favorite props—relief of Antinous, statue of Minerva, armillary sphere, guidebooks to Rome, a volume of painters' biographies, and the second part of Homer's Odyssey. -
Minerva
Clodion (Claude Michel) (French 1738-1814)
Minerva combines the features of several ancient sculptures, specifically the Minerva Giustiniani in the Vatican. Here she wears a helmet and Greek chiton. Her right hand once contained a spear, but it has been lost. The left hand holds a shield. On the other side of the sculpture is the head of Medusa along with Clodion’s signature. -
Ideal Female Heads
Augustin Pajou (French 1730-1809)
Completed between 1769 - 1770
The two terracotta busts contrast one another: one looks up, the other down; one turns right, the other turns left; but we cannot see into either one’s eyes. These busts were originally commissioned as models for gilt wood ornaments for the balcony of the Salle de l’Opéra in Versailles; the renovation was in preparation of Marie-Antoinette’s marriage to the Dauphin. The wood heads have long been lost. -
Angelica Kauffman
Angelica Kauffman (Austrian 1741-1807)
painted between 1770-1775
Kauffman identified herself primarily as a history painter, even though women at the time were often denied the essential training necessary to be successful in the field. In this self-portrait, she paints herself with portfolio and charcoal, and her clothing is classical rather than fashionable. In doing so, she distances herself from society and fashion, claiming her primary identify as an artist rather than as a woman. -
George Washington
John Trumbull (American, 1756-1843)
Trumbull served on Washington’s staff at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. He painted the particular portrait from memory five years later, and it became the first true representation of Washington available in Europe. -
Maternity
Benjamin West (American 1738-1820)
West was much more well known for his historical paintings, but Maternity represents one of his most careful drawings. This is an unusual piece for West because of its more allegorical subject, rather than his traditional historical topics. Some suspect this was intended as an engraving but no print of Maternity is known. -
The Death of Socrates
Jacques Louis David (French 1748-1825
The Death of Socrates has been called Jacques Louis David’s most definite Neoclassical statement, the reimagining of a well-known story. Socrates was accused of denying the gods and corrupting the youth through his ideas; he was told to renounce his beliefs or die by drinking hemlock. -
The Triumph of Aemilius Paulus
The Triumph of Aemilius Paulus, 1789
Carle (Antoine Charles Horace) Vernet (French 1758-1836)
painted between 1787-1789
The painting depicts the celebration of the victory of the Roman general Aemilius Paulus over King Perseus in 168 B.C. The temple of Jupiter Capitolinus dominates the background. A Funeral of Patrocles was intended as a pendant was not finished. -
Arcadian Landscape with Three Figures at a Lake
Johann Christian Reinhart (German 1761-1847)
This drawing appears to be part of stint in making “heroic landscapes” designed after the Roman Campagna. The landscape itself is to be the focus for the viewer, while the villa and figures are intended to indicate a time period. The drawing is related to a painting Reinhart made but is not considered to be done in preparation of the painting. It is its own piece of work. -
Plaster model for Cupid and Psyche
Antonio Canova (Italian 1757-1822)
The story of Cupid and Psyche is one of the most well known classical myths and became the inspiration of many artists and painters. In this sculpture, Cupid is accepting Psyche, depicted with butterfly wings, back into his arms. -
George Washington
Jean-Antoine Houdon (French 1741-1828)
Completed between 1785-1795
Houdon is famous for his many sculptures and busts of famous inventors, philosophers, and political figures of the Enlightenment. Along with George Washington, he also depicted Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and others. Additionally, his sculptures were used as models for U.S. postage stamps in the 19th and 20th centuries. -
Study of the Head of an Old Bearded Man
Joseph-Marie Vien (French 1716-1809)
This piece is shrouded in mystery, as the date is unknown and it has been attributed to Vien. This oil on paper painting falls within the neoclassical movement and demonstrates the fine attention to changes in textures and temperature.
