Afternoon Rest (Le Midi), Emmanuel Jean Nepomucene de Ghendt, after Pierre Antoine Baudouin, c. 1765
Is it the book, fallen by her side, that aroused this lady’s senses? On a warm summer day, she retreated to an intimate recess of her garden and abandoned herself to lust, as suggested by her hand bulging underneath her dress. Baudouin, a follower of Fragonard, specialized in mildly erotic scenes painted in gouache, that delighted his private clientele.