The present work is a réplique of Rolla, Gervex’s ‘Succès de scandale' of 1878, the artist’s most famous work and an icon of late-nineteenth-century French art. Here Gervex faithfully reprises the detail and palette of the monumental original (measuring 1.8 x 2.3 m, now in the Musée d'Orsay), with only very minor changes - for example including a pink bow around the drapes to the right, perhaps serving to increase the work’s licentious appeal.
[Sotheby’s, London - Oil on canvas, 86 x 108.5 cm]