The Little Servant (La Petite servante)

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

The young female servant seen here carries a platter with what appears to be a gold goblet. In the background are blue walls, a purplish floor, a framed picture, and a black door that frames the servant's head and shoulders. The goblet and the halo effect created by the door—combined with a style that straddles Gothic glass and expressionism—reflect Rouault's belief in the inner light of society's undesirables, which he called "the least of these." He wrote in the 1930s: "A truth hidden at the core of our being sometimes makes us have a premonition of true beauty, true grandeur. The most noble subjects are humbled by a low spirit, while modest and simple realities are raised up and magnified."

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