O cântaro quebrado

Greuze painted this in 1771, near the height of his fame for tender, morally loaded scenes of young women. The pitcher cracked open at the girl's hip is the whole point, an old and unmistakable emblem of lost virginity, with her gathered flowers and loosened dress saying the same thing more softly. The picture soon found a very worldly home. It hung at Louveciennes, the country retreat of Madame du Barry, the last mistress of Louis XV, whose own reputation was hardly one of guarded innocence. When the Revolution came, du Barry's goods were seized and she went to the guillotine, and the painting passed into what became the Louvre. The girl looks out with a soft, unbothered gaze that leaves you unsure how much she understands.