Head of a Peasant Woman, c. 1882. Bronze bust, height 121/4 inches (31 cm), width 173/8 inches (44 cm), and depth 121/4 inches (31 cm). Collection of the Manchester Art Gallery, accession no. 1933.69. Click on image to enlarge it.
The head of this French peasant woman, with her serene countenance and downcast eyes, is highly reminiscent of those seen in the paintings of women involved in religious observances that Legros had been painting over many years. This sculpture appears to be a study of the mother’s head for Legros’s most famous sculpture of this type, A Sailor’s Wife, which he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1882, no. 1676. — Dennis T. Lanigan
Last modified 13 November 2022