Le Paradou (after Emile Zola), 1883

The French painter Joseph Edouard Dantan worked in the academic tradition. His contemporaries praised his mastery of trompe l’oeil and stereoscopic photography. In addition to historical and mythological scenes, he is best known for his depictions of artists’ studios with naked life models that recall, at times, the workshop that belonged to his sculptor father. ‘Le Paradou’ is the name of the paradisiacal garden in the novel La faute de l’Abbé Mouret by Emile Zola. It is in this garden that the young priest Mouret loses his innocence when seduced by the charming and pure Albine. Dantan’s painting depicts the tentative beginnings of the temptation when the forces of nature, at their peak during summer, have as much power as the charms of the young girl.