Italian sitting, leaning on her knee

In 1831 the Swiss painter Léopold Robert showed a large canvas of Italian harvesters at the Paris Salon, and it was one of the great successes of the year. Peasants from the country around Rome, in their bright regional dress, were then a favourite subject with painters and buyers alike. Corot's model wears that kind of costume, a white blouse, green sleeves, a red skirt spread out around her and a darker one over it, with a necklace at her throat. He gives her no story and no setting. She sits low against a dark wall, one elbow on her raised knee and her head resting on her hand, looking straight out at us. The Louvre dates the study broadly, between 1825 and 1850. It is only 27 centimetres high.