The most popular figure paintings of the mid-nineteenth century in France
were those of the group of compromisers or semi-classicists. Their
compositions were the natural successors to the classicism of the
academicians David and Ingres, modified by a new vogue in France for
romantic types and for modern history. One of the important men of this
group was Bouguereau. He had much skill in drawing and in composition.
He makes his appeal, however, chiefly through his choice of themes,
employing usually either sentimental religious subjects or pretty
children.—From the Bequest of Mrs. W. H. Dunwoody.
[The Bath. Jean Leon Gerome, 1824-1903 ]