Young Women of Sparta (Jeunes filles de Sparte)  1870

Corot devoted a number of works to Emma Dobigny, his favorite model, often dressing the young Frenchwoman in garb that evoked the East—here showing her in the costume of ancient Sparta. Corot’s allusion to a historical past and his inclusion of dancing girls in the background—perhaps a reference to the vigorous physical exercises of the Spartans—provide a veneer of narrati...