=Questions to arouse interest.= Where is this young girl? Why do you
think so? What do you see in the background that tells you so? What has
happened? Why does she look so serious? Does she look frightened, or
just sorry? What is she carrying on her arm? What is she carrying in her
apron? How is she dressed? How is her hair combed? What do you see in
her hair? What is pinned on her dress? How old do you think she is? Why
do you think you would like her?
=Original Picture=: Louvre (lōō´vr’) Gallery, Paris, France.
=Artist=: Jean Baptiste Greuze (grûz).
=Birthplace=: Tournus (Tōōr´nüs´), France.
=Dates=: Born, 1725; died, 1805.
=The story of the picture.= One glance at this picture tells us what has
happened, and why the little girl looks so serious. On her arm she
carries a quaint old pitcher which she has just broken. It looks as
though she were dressed for a party, for there are flowers in her hair,
a bouquet on her dress, and flowers in her apron. Perhaps she had picked
the flowers and was getting the water so that she could place the
pitcher full of blossoms on the table. She may have gathered up all the
broken pieces in her apron, hoping that the pitcher can be mended. We
are sure that it must have been a pitcher that she prized very highly
and hopes to save, for she still holds it. But surely it is not
customary to take such a good pitcher to the fountain; a tin pail or a
jug would be so much safer. It must be that there is company at her
home. She must have caught up the pitcher from the table and hurried
away, impatient to be back with her friends. In her haste she may have
slipped and fallen. Now she must go home, and they will all know what
has happened.
She stands still a moment, trying to think how to tell them; she does
not know just how it did happen, or whether she was really to blame or
not. Had the board she stepped on not been slippery, or the pitcher not
quite so heavy, and if she had not been in a hurry, all would have been
well. Of one thing she is certain—she did not do it purposely. She
wishes she had brought an old pitcher or a pail; but it is of no use to
think about that now—the mischief is done. And somehow we feel sure she
will not be punished or even scolded very much.
What a very pretty girl she is, with just such a sweet face as the
artist Greuze always loved to paint. In the original painting she has
blue eyes, light hair, pink cheeks, very red lips, and her dress is
white. In the background we see the old stone fountain, the cool water
flowing in a steady stream from the mouth of the rudely carved head.
What interesting tales that fountain could tell of the rich and the poor
who pass that way each day; of the many little acts of courtesy and
kindness it has seen; of the thirsty, the wasteful and careless, the
happy and the sad people it has known and served.