Fear (La Crainte)
Artist: Jean-Baptiste Le Prince (French, 1734-1781)
Date: 1769
Dimensions:
19 3/4 × 25 1/4 in. (50.2 × 64.1 cm)
Frame: 28 1/2 × 32 1/2 × 3 1/4 in. (72.4 × 82.6 × 8.3 cm)
Medium: oil on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1970.444
Label Text:An example of a “boudoir” scene, this image both amuses and titillates with its interrupted narrative. The details of the painting tell the story: the woman’s reclining pose and disarrayed gown; her startled reaction to the apparent unexpected arrival of someone (her husband?) who is greeted by the leaping dog; the hot chocolate service for two; and the hastily overturned chair. An engraved copy of the painting made in 1785 makes the story even more explicit: the head of a hiding lover was added peeking from behind the bed draperies at the right.
On view
In Collection(s)