
Joseph Marie VienFrancia, 1716–1809Sweet Melancholy
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Dove si trova «Sweet Melancholy» oggi? Cleveland Museum of Art, 216B French and German, Cleveland. Sì, esposta ora. Verificato 29 settembre 2026.
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Sul dipinto
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.
Con le parole del museo
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.
Cleveland Museum of Art
Scheda
- Numero di inventario
- 1996.1
In catalogo
Fonti
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Immagine: Cleveland Museum of Art — Museum open access







