Detail of The Elder Sister by Bouguereau in the Brooklyn Museum, January 2010

The Elder Sister, reduction (La soeur aînée, réduction)

An academic painter who had achieved great success in the Paris Salon with mythological, historical, and religious subjects, Bouguereau later turned to genre scenes such as this image of a young woman caring for her younger brother. Although the figures are defined as siblings in the title, Bouguereau evokes the Madonna and Child with a tender pose—much like that seen in the altarpieces on the opposite wall—and the Catholic rosary beads in the child’s hand. Moreover, scholars have linked Bouguereau’s composition and the dark, dreamy look of the girl to the Sistine Madonna by Raphael. Bouguereau’s works appealed to a middle-class clientele—both French and American—that cherished Christian and domestic values. This “reduction” is one of at least two known versions that Bouguereau painted after a larger subject displayed in the Salon of 1867.

Artist: William Bouguereau, French, 1825-1905

Medium: Oil on panel

Place Made: Europe

Dates: ca. 1864

Dimensions: 21 7/8 x 17 15/16 in. (55.6 x 45.6 cm)
Frame: 29 3/4 x 25
1/2 x 4 1/2 in. (75.6 x 64.8 x 11.4 cm)

Signature: Signed lower right on chest: "W Bouguereau"

Collections: European Art

Museum Location: This item is on view in Beaux-Arts Court, West, 3rd Floor

Accession Number: 21.99

Credit Line: Bequest of William H. Herriman

Text from: brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/4390/The_Elder_...