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Head of an Italian Woman
About the Artwork
Gérôme spent the years 1843 and 1844 in Rome, where this work was painted. The woman's severe expression and drapery recall ancient Roman statuary as well as the 19th-century belief that the essence of the antique could still be found amid the ruins and people of contemporary Rome.
Inscriptions
Signed right: j. l. gerome / 1844 / roma
Provenance
Perhaps Italienne commissioned from the artist by Joseph Courcelles, Vesoul, before 1847. Goupil to Hoey, New York, 1867, as an étude, for ff 250. Probably acquired as Tête d'Italienne from Gérôme by Goupil, May 1871, for ff 2,250 and sold to Everard, London, for ff 3,000, and then Goupil bought it back in London, May 1871, for ff 3,500 and sold it 31 July 1871 to Knoedler, New York, for ff 4,000 francs on a fixed account.3 Boussod, Valadon & Cie to Delmonico, New York, 1885. Belgian private collection. Christie's, London, 20 February 1976 (lot 153, repr.), Study of a Roman, property of a Belgian private collector, £400. Shepherd Gallery, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin, Cleveland. Bequeathed to the CMA in 1980.
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981). Jean-Léon Gérôme. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (June 15-September 12, 2010); Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France (organizer) (October 18, 2010-January 23, 2011).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Jean-Léon Gérôme (French, 1824–1904)
- Date
- c. 1847
- Medium
- oil on fabric
- Dimensions
- Framed: 60 x 51 x 6 cm (23 5/8 x 20 1/16 x 2 3/8 in.); Unframed: 44.5 x 36 cm (17 1/2 x 14 3/16 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Bequest of Noah L. Butkin
- Accession no.
- 1980.264
More by Jean Léon Gérôme in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00010013
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