Fright

Depicting emotions legibly was a fundamental principle of artistic theory and practice since the French Academy’s founding in 1648, and it was famously codified by the painter Charles Le Brun in his illustrated treatise about the passions. Since an artist’s ability to portray emotions was considered essential to the communication of meaning, the academy inaugurated a regular competition for drawing expressive heads, or "têtes d’expression," in 1760. This genre is represented extensively in Greuze’s work, particularly his drawings, which serve as artistic exercises and as preparatory studies for larger compositions. The expression of fright depicted in this panel occurs in at least two other works by the artist, one of which was the painting he exhibited at the Salon of 1800, "Young Woman Frightened by the Storm."