Simon VouetFrench, 1590–1649Kneeling Woman
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Kneeling Woman” now? Collection: Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge. Not on view at present. Checked October 12, 2026.
Cambridge, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
The kneeling woman is shown from the rear in a three-quarter view to the left, represented from below. The post of the figure—head upturned and left arm extended—convey an attitude of rapt attention. The sole of the left foot is exposed beneath voluminous draperies. There is a monumentality of this single figure, heightened by the foreshortening and pyramidal form.
Harvard Art Museums
Details
- Accession number
- 1984.603
In the catalog
Sources
- Harvard Art Museums
- Image: Harvard Art Museums — © President and Fellows of Harvard College
In the life of Simon Vouet
The whole life1627–1649
Post: Premier peintre du Roi
1638
Death of his wife Virginia
Virginia da Vezzo died in France — a Roman, “a painter known for her beauty”, Vouet's pupil and the model for his Madonnas, and the mother of his five children.
1640
The king sets Poussin against Vouet
Louis XIII summoned Nicolas Poussin, famous in Italy, to Paris with the words “Now Vouet is caught!” and deliberately set the two painters against each other. Vouet, a friend of Poussin, probably chose not to stop his supporters' pamphlets; in the end Poussin returned to Italy and Vouet kept his primacy at court.
1640
Marries Radegonde Béranger
Two years after Virginia's death Vouet married a French widow, Radegonde Béranger, with whom he had three more children.
1641
Death of his brother Aubin Vouet
Simon's younger brother, the painter Aubin Vouet (1595–1641), died.
