cma-european-art: Sweet Melancholy, Joseph-Marie Vien , 1756, Cleveland Museum of Art: European Pain
cma-european-art: Sweet Melancholy, Joseph-Marie Vien , 1756, Cleveland Museum of Art: European Painting and SculptureThe chair, brazier, table, and the setting all show Vien’s interest in bringing archaeological accuracy to a new level of precision. Yet his delicate handling and graceful palette derive squarely from 18th-century French painting. The gesture of the melancholic figure, with her head on her hand, has roots going back to the Renaissance. Nonetheless, the painting has a wistful rather than tragic tone. Indeed, images of women in interiors, contemplating a letter with longing or sadness, derive from earlier Dutch paintings of daily life, here transformed into an ancient context.Size: Framed: 86.4 x 76.2 x 6.5 cm (34 x 30 x 2 9/16 in.); Unframed: 68 x 55 cm (26 ¾ x 21 5/8 in.)Medium: oil on canvashttps://clevelandart.org/art/1996.1 -- source link
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