139 "THE LITTLE SHEPHERDESS"
By William A Bouguereau (1825-1905)

Beautiful shepherdesses have inspired poets, writers, and painters all down the ages. This little one elevated Bouguereau to paint a picture of great harmony and technical skill. As we study this *portrait, we see an enchanting young girl resting on her staff on a high summer meadow. There is an air of self-sufficiency about her; - to be a shepherdess would be a solitary occupation, with only her flock for company. We *glimpse the sheep in the distance. She is free for a moment and she looks at us with inner calm through her large deep-set eyes. Her appearance; - such clear skin and slender body indicates that she leads an active life.

In rounding up her sheep she could skip and run with a great turn of speed, even in her bare feet, which look strong and beautiful. In the poet's words, "she well deserves her beauty". Woe betide any hopeful young blade from the town who took a fancy to her! On her territory, he would never catch her. Anyhow she would have little interest in someone from such a different background.

We can imagine her eventually finding a strong young shepherd with whom she will have much in common, as they care for their sheep and their family together in the countryside they both love and know so well. Country lasses like her represented a kind of dream for urban dwellers, which is why there was a ready market for such paintings.

William A Bougureau was born in La Rochelle in 1825, the son of an Englishman of middle-class origin. Upset at seeing his artistic leanings, his father steered him towards a business career, but the young Bouguereau fled to an understanding uncle who gave him more scope. After a few months he had done 30 portraits. In 1846, he entered the studio of Picot and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1850 he was awarded the Grand Prix de Rome and started exhibiting at the Salon. He became one of the most revered French academic painters of his day and his paintings were also much admired in England, where he sold work frequently.