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Resting Girl (Marie-Louise O'Murphy)
François Boucher · Rococo & Neoclassicism
- Artist
- François Boucher (1703–1770)
- Date
- 1751
- Dimensions
- 59.5 x 73.5 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne, Germany
Resting Girl shows a young woman lying naked on her stomach on a sofa covered with crumpled silk cushions and draperies, propped on her elbows and gazing to the side. A rose lies on the floor, and an incense burner smokes nearby.
A closer look
The model is traditionally identified as Marie-Louise O'Murphy, a young woman of Irish descent who became one of the mistresses of King Louis XV. Unlike the goddesses and nymphs Boucher usually painted, she is shown simply as a real girl in a contemporary interior, which made the picture especially daring. The soft pink and blue tones, the delicate flesh and the swirl of fabrics show the decorative elegance of the Rococo at its height. Boucher painted several versions of this composition for private collectors.
More by François Boucher
In this gallery
Famous works elsewhere
- La Naissance de Vénus 1754
- Madame Bergeret 1766