Joseph Marie VienFrench, 1716–1809Sweet Melancholy
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Sweet Melancholy” now? The Cleveland Museum of Art, 216B French and German, Cleveland. Yes, on view now. Checked September 29, 2026.
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
Sweet Melancholy or Soft Melancholy (French: La Douce Mélancolie) is an oil on canvas painting by Joseph-Marie Vien, from 1756. It is held in the Cleveland Museum of Art. It was exhibited at the Salon of 1757 at the Louvre in Paris.
It is recorded in the cabinet of chevalier de Damery, a military officer and collector of prints, drawings and paintings, who after financial ruin had to sell his collection, ending his life in Les Invalides.
In the museum's words
The chair, brazier, table, and the setting all show Vien's interest in bringing archaeological accuracy to a new level of precision. Yet his delicate handling and graceful palette derive squarely from 18th-century French painting. The gesture of the melancholic figure, with her head on her hand, has roots going back to the Renaissance. Nonetheless, the painting has a wistful rather than tragic tone. Indeed, images of women in interiors, contemplating a letter with longing or sadness, derive from earlier Dutch paintings of daily life, here transformed into an ancient context.
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Details
- Accession number
- 1996.1
In the catalog
Sources
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Image: The Cleveland Museum of Art — Museum open access
