10]

The pictures by which Greuze made his early reputation, and which
perhaps he never excelled in later times, were the Father Explaining the
Bible to his Children,[11] and the Village Bride.[12] Both represent
family scenes among village people, and contain, as their most charming
features, some delightfully natural children. One could scarcely find
anything more deliciously childlike than the mischievous little ones who
gather about the table to listen to the Father Explaining the Bible, and
whose love of fun even this solemn occasion cannot repress. Equally
attractive are the young people gathering affectionately and tearfully
about their pretty elder sister, the Village Bride, who comes with her
lover to receive the parental blessing.

The appearance of these two compositions made their artist famous,
and won for him the ardent admiration and powerful friendship of the
encyclopaedist Diderot. Continuing his work along this new[13] line of
subjects, Greuze went on to paint many other scenes in the child-life
of the country. Two notable companion pictures of this kind are the
Departure of the Cradle, and the Return from the Nurse, founded upon
a phase of French village life quite unknown in many other countries,
namely, the custom among busy working-people of sending their infants
out to board with nurses. Unnatural as was the custom, it by no means
indicated a lack of family affection, as is seen in these charming
compositions. In both cases, the child, at first an infant, and later
a little boy a year or two old, is the centre of the group, fondled and
admired by all.

The pre-eminence of Greuze was due not only to the entire novelty of his
chosen range of subjects, but to the exquisite beauty of his technique.
He excelled in painting those fresh carnations, "mixed with lilies and
roses," as the French used to say, and diversified with blue-gray
shadows and warm reflected light. Such characteristics are easily
carried to extremes, and were often exaggerated by Greuze himself; but
when held in true control they are a delight to the eye of the true
color-lover.

An example of his coloring, in its most lovely aspects, is the Trumpet.
The scene is a cottage interior, in which a young mother, with a babe in
her arms, sits beside a cradle containing another little one, and turns
to quiet her roguish boy, who stands somewhat sulkily by her chair,
reluctant to forego the pleasure of blowing on his trumpet. "Silence! d