About this artwork

The young boy is committing a text to memory and quite literally is a picture of concentration. Although Greuze painted this towards the end of his stay in Italy it shows the strong influence of seventeenth-century Dutch painting and the work of the slightly older French artist Chardin. Greuze asserts the three dimensional character of the boy in a convincing space through such details as his sleeve and book overlapping the table edge. The artist's skilful rendering of textures is also apparent in the painting of the boy's skin, hair, jacket, shirt collar and cuffs.

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
  • title:
    Boy with a Lesson Book
  • date created:
    Probably 1755/57
  • materials:
    Oil on canvas
  • measurements:
    62.50 x 49.10 x 2.50 cm; Framed: 90.30 x 77.60 x 13.00 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Bequest of Lady Murray of Henderland 1861
  • accession number:
    NG 436
  • gallery:
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Jean-Baptiste Greuze

Jean-Baptiste Greuze