Bouguereau, Nymphs and Satyr, 1873 / Corot, Ville d’Avray, 1867

Although both of these painters were recognized by the Academy for their excellence, one may have been seen as more “moral” than the other. Bouguereau’s painting would have been considered of higher moral value because he upheld and celebrated Europe’s cultural basis in Classical antiquity, but Corot’s work is devoid of any such association and he concentrates on reproducing the landscape as honestly as possible. So Bouguereau’s work would have been held up as model of moral superiority despite the salacious subject.