"This little laundress is charming, but she's a rascal I wouldn't trust an inch," declared the critic Denis Diderot when this painting was first exhibited in 1761. This painting attracted considerable attention at that Salon, not the least because the traditional values of hard work and virtue are here shown in a more titillating manner. This young woman's flirtatious manner and blatant sensuality provoked an intensity of feeling not expected by the subject matter.
