'Marguerite à la fontaine'

Photograph of a work by Ary Scheffer, the prime version of which was created in 1858 and is now at the Wallace Collection (Inv. no. P284). Inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, the image depicts a three-quarter length portrait of Marguerite (or Gretchen) facing slightly to the right towards a well. She turns her head to the viewer and gazes upwards, slightly to the left. With her left hand she holds the handle of a vessel, which is being filled with water from the fountain. Two women stand in the backround, one of which carries a pot on her head.

Ary Scheffer (and his studio) continued throughout his life to produce new works of old compositions on demand. His paintings were also widely reproduced as etchings.