The Lover of Reading, 1872 by Claude Monet

During the eighteenth century, women were often featured in paintings as allegories or with allegorical subjects. There would be a narrative context to the paintings that could be read by the symbolism included in the painting.

In The Lover of Reading, Monet has taken Camille and painted her in an attitude that is reminiscent of these earlier paintings. However, he has given the treatment a modern rendition and there is no symbolism or allegory to the work. Canulle's face is shown side-on and her expression is not anything other than serene. There is no story to be read into the work, as it is a painting of purely aesthetic purpose. The woman in her pink dress is reminiscent of the flowers around her. This association between nature and the female as a flower is evident in the painting, where the women are connected to their surroundings by the color of their dresses and the color of the flowers on the grassland.

The Lover of Reading was unusual in its time for posing the woman outdoors. This later became a common practice, but at the time it added to the originality of the painting.