Watermark: none
This is one of Prud'hon's surpassing nude figure studies on blue paper. The model here, who appears in several similar drawings, is known only as Marguèrite, to whom King Frederick William III of Prussia is said to have given 1,000 francs after meeting her in Prud'hon's studio. The drawing, imbued with the presence of the live model, is preparatory for the figure of Innocence in Barthélemy Roger's engraving of Prud'hon's Love Seduces Innocence, Pleasure Entraps, Remorse Follows, exhibited at the Salon of 1812 and now in the National Gallery of Canada. -- Exhibition Label, from "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection"
Boisfremont, Charles Boulanger de, former owner.
Power, Mme, (née Boisfremont), former owner.
Van Cuyck, former owner.
Farrow, George, former owner.
Groult, Camille, 1832-1908, former owner.
Thaw, Eugene Victor, former owner.
Thaw, Clare, former owner.
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY, "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection", 2017. Exh. cat., no. 303, repr.
Stampfle, Felice, and Cara D. Denison. Drawings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene V. Thaw. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1975, no. 38, repr. (also in Thaw III, no. 32)
Denison, Cara D. et al. The Thaw Collection : Master Drawings and New Acquisitions. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1994, no. 32, repr.
Ryskamp, Charles, ed. Seventeenth Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1972-1974. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1976, p. 178.
Denison, Cara D. French Drawings, 1550-1825. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1984, no. 91.
Denison, Cara D. French Master Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1993, 95, repr. in color.
In August Company : The Collections of the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1993, no. 28, pp. 300-02, repr. in color.
Denison, Cara D. et al. From Mantegna to Picasso : Drawings from the Thaw Collection at the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. London : Royal Academy of Arts ; New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1996, no. 30, repr. in color.
From Leonardo to Pollock: Master drawings from the Morgan Library. New York: Morgan Library, 2006, cat. no. 84, p. 176-177.