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The Marriage Contract

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The Marriage Contract

Jean-Baptiste Greuze

ca. 1761

Medium

Red and black chalk over traces of graphite, watercolor and gouache

Tags

Children Men Women Dogs

Dimensions

sheet: 12 1/8 x 17 7/16 in. (30.8 x 44.3 cm)

Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Credit

Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace and Mrs. Howard J. Barnet Gifts, 2012

Classification

Drawings

Department

Drawings and Prints

Rights

Public Domain

About Jean-Baptiste Greuze

1725–1805 • France

Greuze's paintings are typical for his time and place in that he used clear, bright colors, with subjects exhibiting rather light attitude of eighteenth-century painting. However, he was innovative in introducing a Dutch-influenced realism into French genre painting and portraiture. Through vivid facial expressions and dramatic gestures, Greuze's moralizing paintings exemplified the new idea that painting should relate to life.

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More by Jean-Baptiste Greuze

Explore other works by this artist

Portrait of J.B. Greuze

Portrait of J.B. Greuze

19th century

Head of a Woman, after Greuze

Head of a Woman, after Greuze

1871

The Storm, after Greuze, from "L'Art"

The Storm, after Greuze, from "L'Art"

1873

Head of a Woman, after Greuze

Head of a Woman, after Greuze

1871

Study of a Hand

Study of a Hand

ca. 1760–80

Jean-Baptiste Greuze, calling card

Jean-Baptiste Greuze, calling card

ca. 1755–1805

The Broken Pitcher

The Broken Pitcher

1850

Bust of a Little Girl

Bust of a Little Girl

1800–1825

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Head of a Young Boy

Head of a Young Boy

1763

Jean Jacques Caffiéri (1725–1792)

Jean Jacques Caffiéri (1725–1792)

ca. 1765

Princess Varvara Nikolaevna Gagarina (1762–1802)

Princess Varvara Nikolaevna Gagarina (1762–1802)

ca. 1780–82