L. BENSUSAN. WATTEAU. C. LEWIS HIND. WATTS. W. LOFTUS HARE. WHISTLER. T. MARTIN WOOD. _Others in Preparation._ * * * * * * [Illustration: PLATE I.--L’ACCORDÉE DU VILLAGE. (Frontispiece) This picture, at first entitled “A Father handing over the Marriage-portion of his Daughter,” then “The Village Bride,” is the best of Greuze’s subject pictures. The scene is more or less naturally arranged, and informed with the tender homely sentiment inspired by the subject; and the bride, with her fresh young face and modest attitude, is a delicious figure. It was exhibited in the Salon of 1761, and now hangs in the Louvre.] GREUZE by ALYS EYRE MACKLIN Illustrated with Eight Reproductions in Colour [Illustration: IN SEMPITERNUM.] London: T. C. & E. C. Jack New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co. CONTENTS Chap. Page I. Early Days and First Success 11 II. The Times in which Greuze Lived 20 III. Greuze’s Moral Pictures 27 IV. The Pictures by which we know Greuze 35 V. The Vanity of Greuze 44 VI. “The Broken Pitcher” and other well-known Pictures 52 VII. Ruin and Death 62 VIII. The Art of Greuze 71 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Plate I. L’Accordée du Village Frontispiece In the Louvre Page II. L’Innocence tenant deux Pigeons 14 In the Wallace Collection III. La Malédiction paternelle 24 In the Louvre IV. Portrait d’Homme 34 In the Louvre V. L’Oiseau Mort 40 In the Louvre VI. Les Deux Sœurs 50 In the Louvre VII. La Cruche Cassée 60 In the Louvre VIII. La Laitière 70 In the Louvre CHAPTER I EARLY DAYS AND FIRST SUCCESS Few names suggest so much beauty as that of Greuze.