Bathers

• Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824–1898)
• ca. 1864
• Watercolor over graphite
• Gift of William A. Putnam, 1928 (28.216)

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes produced numerous studies while creating murals celebrating abundance for the city of Amiens in Picardy, north of Paris. This work, which depicts three women along a riverbank in a wooded landscape, is among them. With a muted palette and classical forms, it conveys an atmosphere of an ideal and pastoral paradise. The women, portrayed as nymphs, symbolize the fertility and abundance of the Picardy region.