Princess Varvara Nikolaevna Gagarina (1762–1802)
ca. 1780–82
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Oval, 31 1/2 x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. William M. Haupt, from the collection of Mrs. James B. Haggin, 1965
Accession Number
65.242.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the opulent world of late 18th-century European nobility with Jean-Baptiste Gre's enchanting portrait of *Princess Varvara Nikolaev Gagarina (1762–1802)*, painted around 1780–82. This oval oil on canvas, measuring 31½ × 25 inches, captures the young Russian princess in a moment of poised grace, accompanied by a loyal dog—a charming detail that underscores themes of affection and status often seen in aristocratic portraits. Greuze, a French artist renowned for his sentimental style blending Rococo elegance with emerging Neoclassical restraint, excelled at conveying emotional depth thr...
About the Artist
Jean-Baptiste Greuze · 1725–1805
Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725–1805) was a French painter whose moralistic genre scenes and expressive portraits made him one of the most celebrated and controversial artists of the eighteenth century. Born in Tournus, Burgundy, Greuze traveled to Paris in his youth and trained under Charles Grandon before gaining admission to the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, where he made a sensationa...