Study of a Woman’s Head, by Jean-Baptiste Greuze, oil on wood, roughly 18 x 16 in. (47 x 41 cm), in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York. The link is to the page for this painting on the Met’s website.

As I find is often the case with images posted by museums of works from their collections, their primary image is way too dark. This seems to be deliberate practice among many museums, for reasons I can’t fathom.

If you look below the image, you’ll see thumbnails of alternate views. One of them is a photograph of the painting in its frame that is much closer to the appearance of the painting in person. Unfortunately, there isn’t a large version of that photograph. I’ve taken the liberty in the images above of color adjusting the large image to try to bring it closer to the appearance of the actual painting.

Though he also painted historic subjects and genre scenes, 18th century painter Jean-Baptiste Greuze was known primarily for his portraits. This painting is classed as a study, though it’s finished to a high degree.

Click on the image on the Met’s page to see it larger in a zooming viewer, or click the download arrow under the image to see it full size.

Even in the dark version, you can see his highly sophisticated use of value, edges and color. Look at how the reds, pinks, cream colors and greens blend within the geometry of the face.

Notice, as I did to my particular delight, the wonderfully controlled but nicely visible brush marks. Look at the direction they take down the shape of the nose, the sweep across the vertical plane of the cheek, and the beautifully realized roundness of the neck and breast.