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Jean-Baptiste Greuze

The Opening of the Will, ca. 1760 - 1780

Now On View

Description

Maker

  • Jean-Baptiste Greuze, 1725-1805, French

Title

The Opening of the Will

Year

ca. 1760 - 1780

Medium

Pen and ink, brush and wash, and black chalk on laid paper

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • pen and ink,
  • wash technique

Supports

  • paper

Dimensions

48.9 x 63.2 cm (19 5/16 x 24 7/8 inches)

Type

  • Works on Paper,
  • Drawings and Watercolors

Credit

Museum Appropriation Fund

Object Number

38.166

Projects & Publications

Publications

Old Master Drawings from the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Drawing Closer

March 12 - September 4, 2022

To the right, a frail old man lies propped up on his deathbed. He is surrounded by relatives and hangers-on who greedily loot the chest at the foot of the bed while a robed official reads the old man’s will. The young man entering from the left is perhaps an estranged son. The narrative details are not completely spelled out, but it is clear that this crowded composition is a portrait of callousness and greed. Jean-Baptiste Greuze was widely admired for his animated genre drawings, which often explored greed, family strife, and piety. One contemporary claimed they could constitute “a complete treatise on domestic morality.”

Treasures on Paper

June 13 - August 19, 1989

Old Master Drawings

September 2 - October 16, 1983

The Age of Canova

November 6 - December 15, 1957

Exhibition of 18th-Century Drawings and Watercolors

April 16 - December 3, 1948

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is The Opening of the Will with the accession number of 38.166. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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