Hitherto unpublished, this masterful and intimate painting is a consummate example of Jean-Baptiste Greuze's skill as a portraitist and his unrivalled ability to capture the emotion of his subjects in a realistic and empathetic manner. An elegant and beautiful young woman looks directly out at the viewer, as if she has just been called to attention. Her right hand remains gracefully raised to her chin, her elongated and soft fingers grazing her flushed pink cheeks. Her lips are ever-so-slightly parted, and she wears both a serious and curious expression. The blue ribbon in her hair is adorned with flowers and she wears a fashionable pink silk dress with a sheer trim along the deep neckline. The blue bow that ties the dress at her chest reflects the ribbon and pulls together the tightly-composed oval into an elegant and satisfying composition.

Painted with particular technical sensitivity, this work probably dates from the late 1760s or early 1770s. It can be compared stylistically with the portrait of a girl holding a rose, now at the Musée Cognac-Jay (fig. 1). That painting was engraved by Ingouf around 1773, so would date from before then.