La fille de Diaz 

This is La Fille de Diaz by Narcisse-Virgilio Diaz, an oil painting whose date is unknown. Diaz's work reflects a late flourish of Romanticism, with an emphasis on capturing nature with a plein air aesthetic. We can understand that effect by looking at his facture, the way he actually put the paint down. Up close, you can see Diaz dabbed and scumbled the pigments, so the image dissolves into an abstract arrangement. Diaz was part of the Barbizon School, known for its focus on landscape and rural life. In this work we see a portrait of a young girl with her goat, the work celebrates the beauty of the natural world but does not go as far as to conceal the signs of human intervention. This painting prompts us to think about the history of art, and the way that it is always a combination of natural observation and artifice.