European School (c. 1840) - Bonheur-du-jour

Oil on canvas. Original canvas.— Oh! What intoxicating languor emanates from this exquisite portrait of a 19th-century girl! There, in the sanctuary of her boudoir, the young woman with her immaculately white complexion appears before us like a lily fading on her rosewood desk, enveloped in a cambric dress so immaculate that the morning clouds would pale with envy at its whiteness. The Mechelen lace, like cobwebs spun by mischievous angels, caresses her shoulders as she, seized by a restlessness as sweet as it is guilty, clutches to her stomach the letter that has brought to her cheeks the crimson of exquisite modesty. She is absorbed in passionate reading. Her eyes, two pearls misted by the dew of emotion, seem to scan the air in search of the echo of her beloved's words, while the paper, still warm from the promises exchanged, trembles between her pearly fingers like the wing of a butterfly imprisoned in the garden of first love. - Image dimensions without frame: 60.5 x 78 cm / 75 x 92.5 cm with exclusive custom frame.