Nude bust of girl singing with animation (Le Chant) (one of a pair of designs for box-covers) 1885 - 1899

This bas-relief, created by Alexandre-Louis-Marie Charpentier between 1885 and 1899, depicts a nude young woman singing from sheet music. The delicate, flowing lines of the figure and the expressiveness of the pose create a sense of life and motion. The work is one of a pair designed to be used as box covers. "Le Chant" (The Song) is now part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The small size of the work and its intimate subject matter suggest a focus on domesticity and the beauty of everyday life.