Description
Cabanel, a professor of painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, specialized in portraits of "High Society." Here, he depicts the Swedish soprano Christine Nilsson as Pandora, the woman in Greek mythology who opened a forbidden box, releasing all the troubles that afflict humanity.
Provenance
Purchased by William T. Walters (through George A. Lucas as agent), Baltimore, October 26, 1873 [1]; inherited by Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.
[1] The Diary of George A. Lucas, p. 384.
Inscriptions
[Signature] At upper right in yellow letters: ALEX. CABANEL; [Date] Upper right in yellow letters: 1873
Credit
Acquired by William T. Walters, 1873