18th/19th painting after a composition by Jean Baptiste Greuze, known as the Village Bride or The Marriage Contract, from 1761.The present lot might have been done in the 19th century or in the late 18th century by a student or follower of Greuze. /////////////////////////The painting is 47 inches by 36 inches, in a frame 55 inches by 43 inches.//////////////////////////////////////////////////////(From Khan Academy website):"It is a simple story of love. We are transported to a rural country village to attend a wedding. The happy couple is in the center, their arms entwined in an obvious symbol of their love. The bride's father, seated on the right, extends his arms in congratulations he has just handed his new son-in-law his dowry.The bride's mother and younger sister caress her arm, sad to see her leave the family but very happy that she has found love. On the other hand, the older sister leans over her fathers shoulder to look on enviously and perhaps somewhat judgmentally, at her sister who has beaten her to the altar. The rest of the younger family members play nearby, accompanied by a few barnyard guests. With only a notary in attendance to make the marriage official, the ceremony can only be described as spare, and the French bourgeois public (or middle class) enthusiastically accepted Jean-Baptiste Greuzes composition of humble simplicity.Groom, father in law and sister-in-law arguably one of the most radical moments in Western philosophical history, and while The Village Bride is a painting of a rural wedding does not initially seem philosophical in subject, the age of the Enlightenment provides an important context for understanding the painting. Scholars questioned the traditions of Western culture, including the authority of the church and the arbitrary rule of the monarchy. Figures such as Denis Diderot attempted to compile all human knowledge Marie Arouet, who went by the name Voltaire, advocated for the advancement of science and technology. Yet none of these thinkers were as widely read as Jean-Jacques Rousseau (even the Queen Marie Antoinette was a fan). The famous introduction to his 1762 work The Social Contract,free, and everywhere he is in chains,clearly states his philosophical concern. According to Rousseau, the customs of modern society even its arts, sciences, and laws have corrupted the inherent virtue and moral character of a natural man. If we could throw off these self-imposed chains and return to a more natural state where emotion was respected, then compassion would replace tyranny and the alienation of the individual.This idea of a natural man led to a focus on an idealized view of rural, peasant life. Peasants, according to this line of reasoning, lived more simply, were closer to the earth and had not been corrupted by the forces of elite society. Further "natural" man was not ruled entirely by reason and logic, important signifiers of the modern world. Rousseau wrote,To exist is to feel; our feeling is undoubtedly earlier than our intelligence, and we had feelings before we had ideas. With its depiction of a simple rural interior and the emotions of love, sadness, and joy, Greuzes Village Bride encapsulates Enlightenment ideas of man natural and uncorrupted."////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////Estate of Renee Grossberg, NYC.

This painting was relined about 60-70 years ago.From the front it appears there was a tear along the upper left about 14 inches.There is a 5 inch strip missing paint, about 1/16th of an inch wide, on the left side middle.