In the early 1880’s Bouguereau painted many of his most beautiful full-length female nudes. His submissions to the Salons of 1881, 1882 and 1883 included a series of sequential paintings representing the times of the day: L’Aurore (Dawn), 1881, Le crepuscule (Dusk), 1882 and La nuit (Night), 1883. Our painting is his preliminary oil sketch for La Nuit. Usually small in scale, Bouguereau’s oil sketches were an integral step towards the final painting. They were his visual aids in determining the color harmonies that would characterize the finished oil and were never finely drawn. At this stage, perfection in drawing was not his intention. Because of their sketchiness, these color studies can appear almost abstract and therefore appeal to our modern sensibility. It is important to note that these sketches were never intended for public consumption. They remained in Bouguereau’s studio, hidden away in cupboards. Our study for La Nuit was, until very recently, still stored in Bouguereau’s studio on 75 rue Notre Dame des Champs in Paris.