Parisian Pierre-Alexander Wille painted the portrait Woman Reading a Letter in 1776. He portrayed a young lady in a luxurious interior. The sitter for Wille’s genre scene is unknown; he could either have been inspired by a true story or created a generalized female image. The master made an emphasis on the woman’s sorrow: she raises her eyes to the sky with her arms spread in a gesture of despair. The reason for her grief is a letter with the illegible lines that she is holding with her weakened fingers. The contents of the letter have remained a mystery. One can only assume that it has to do with a love story. The subject of heart affairs is known to have prevailed in Parisian artworks of the 18th century: the public tastes were under the influence of the manners of King Louis XV, a well-known women’s favorite.

Pierre-Alexandre Wille also has other genre paintings with their characters experiencing deep emotions.

Scholars refer Wille’s artworks to Sentimentalism, from the French word sentiment that stands for feeling. In the 18th century, the cult of mind gave way to the passion for sensitivity. The ability to feel was considered to be the only supreme virtue of a person, and it was believed that only deep empathy would make it possible to educate an ideal personality. The paintings were supposed to evoke the viewer’s compassion, shock, or tenderness. One of Wille’s teachers was Jean-Baptiste Greuze, a prominent representative of Sentimentalism. His artworks are notable for being full of moralistic pathos and theatrical gestures.