Danae Receiving the Golden Shower

1757

François Boucher

Associated Names
François Boucher

Artist, French, 1703 - 1770

This drawing shows a person's full body from the back. They are lounging on a soft fabric bed, their head and body turned towards the upper-right corner, away from us. The person's right arm extended above their head towards the upper-right corner, and their right leg is extended while the left leg is bent at the knee. Their brown hair is styled in a braid ending in a bun at the back of their head. Their skin is pale and appears to softly glow or reflect white light. Soft textured fabric surrounds them, drawn with gentle highlights and folds. The background is a smooth, neutral beige tone.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    red, white, and black chalk with gouache

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    Overall: 31.5 x 48 cm (12 3/8 x 18 7/8 in.)
    support: 39.1 x 55 cm (15 3/8 x 21 5/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1963.15.4

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Ananoff 1966, no. 732

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Jean Claude Francois Perrin, marquis de Cypierre [1727- 1789]; (sale, Paris, 10 March 1845, no. 174);[1] Etienne Arago [1802- 1892] (sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 8-9 February 1872, no. 112). Ludwig Neumann, London. Richard Owen, Paris; Samuel H. Kress, New York; gift 1963 to the National Gallery of Art
[1] Possibly the drawing was owned by Monsieur de Montulle and was on sale in Paris, 22-30 December 1783 as cited in François Boucher in North American collections: 100 drawings, Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, 1973. However, in the sale catalogue of that date the drawing could not be found.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1966

  • Ananoff, Alexandre. L'oeuvre dessine de Francois Boucher (1703-1770). Paris, 1966.

1973

  • Slatkin 1973, 76.

1977

  • Eisler, Colin. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian. Oxford, 1977: dK506, fig.283.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 675, no. 1081, color repro.

Inscriptions

in unknown hand, lower left: f.Boucher 1757

Wikidata ID

Q64569743

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