Madame Greuze Asleep (1776): Art, History and Details

Madame Greuze Asleep (1776) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Jean-Michel the Younger Moreau (French, 1741–1814); Jean-Baptiste Greuze (French, 1725–1805).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Presented as an allegorical figure of philosophy, a woman slumbers among the traditional trappings of a scholar’s study: a writing desk with feather pen, piles of books, and a celestial globe. The model was Anne-Gabrielle Babuti, wife of Jean-Baptiste Greuze, who prepared the original drawing for Moreau to replicate. Contracts with printmakers show that Anne-Gabrielle actively participated in the production of her husband’s work for the print market. Although she appears mild here, Anne-Gabrielle had a reputation for being greedy and promiscuous. Greuze filed for divorce when it became legal in 1793, claiming that his wife “carried adultery to the point of shamelessness, cynicism to the point of unimaginable insolence.”

Object facts

• Title: Madame Greuze Asleep
• Date: 1776
• Creator attribution: Jean-Michel the Younger Moreau (French, 1741–1814); Jean-Baptiste Greuze (French, 1725–1805)
• Culture: France
• Type: Print
• Technique: etching and engraving
• Collection: PR - Etching
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1980.23

Collection credit

Delia E. Holden Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.