Caption:
Allegory of Vigilance. Artist: Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, Grasse 1732-1806 Paris). Dimensions: Oval, 27 1/8 x 21 5/8 in. (68.9 x 54.9 cm). Date: ca. 1772.
The female figure is not a portrait sitter but a model in allegorical guise, and the oil lamp and books are traditional symbols of vigilance. Fragonard paints in wide liquid strokes, stopping for few details, in a style typical of his work in the 1770s.