Superb antique French Louis XVI or Marie-Antoinette era hand painted portrait miniature, a tiny rendition of "A Girl with a Dead Canary", originally a c. 1765 painting by Jean-Baptiste Greuze and displayed in a lovely gilt bronze picture frame with hang ring and easel stand! A tiny visible hairline crack near the top center but, whether your interest is in the portrait miniature, or in having art work for your antique doll's house, you're sure to find this one of highest appeal.
The painting is typical of a type perfected by Greuze which played on the viewer's emotions. Here we are invited to sympathise with the young girl grieving over her dead canary. Such subjects had great appeal for Greuze's contemporaries and the painting attracted much critical attention when it was exhibited at the Salon in 1765. Greuze emphasises the girl's facial expression and also the textural contrasts between her scarf, the flowers, the wooden cage and the dead canary. Fabulous!
Very good condition. As noted, there is a small hairline crack in the painting panel, top center area but it takes very little from the overall beauty of the piece. The frame is superb, thick gilt bronze with the original slightly convex glass. See pictures for measurements.
