Study of Female Nude Reclining on a Divan

In France this little canvas is known as The Woman in White Stockings. A model lies back on a divan with her arms behind her head, nude except for the stockings, with pearls at her throat and in her hair, against a heavy red hanging. It is a study, only about 26 by 33 centimetres.

The date is not settled. The Louvre now places it in 1825 to 1826, while the older French national catalogue gives about 1830. The painting stayed in private hands until the collector Étienne Moreau-Nélaton bought it at auction in 1904. He gave it to the Louvre two years later, and it hangs there today among the rest of his gift.