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The Servant Justified

ca. 1740
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 629
In this image a wayward husband pursues a servant girl but, realizing he has been observed by a woman in a window, changes course. Later, he invites his wife to engage in a dalliance in the garden to create an alibi. The story comes from Jean de La Fontaine’s Fables, which enjoyed enormous success in eighteenth-century France as a commentary on contemporary social mores, including gender roles. This painting is one of nine oils on copper that Lancret painted based on La Fontaine, which were engraved during the 1730s and 1740s.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Servant Justified
  • Artist: Nicolas Lancret (French, Paris 1690–1743 Paris)
  • Date: ca. 1740
  • Medium: Oil on copper
  • Dimensions: 11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Walter and Leonore Annenberg and The Annenberg Foundation Gift, 2004
  • Object Number: 2004.85
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Brother Philippe's Geese, Nicolas Lancret French, Oil on copper
Brother Philippe's Geese
Nicolas Lancret
ca. 1736
Plate with scene from "Les Oies de Frère Philippe", Nicolas Lancret French, Porcelain, Chinese, made for export
Plate with scene from "Les Oies de Frère Philippe"
Nicolas Lancret
ca. 1745
Le Théâtre Italien (The Italian Theatre)
Nicolas Lancret
Georg Friedrich Schmidt
18th century
Paté d'Anguille, Nicolas Lancret French, Red chalk, over traces of black chalk; squared in black chalk
Paté d'Anguille
Nicolas Lancret
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin
n.d.
Two Studies of Reclining Youth, Nicolas Lancret French, Red chalk, heightened with a little white, on beige paper
Two Studies of Reclining Youth
Nicolas Lancret
early 18th century

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