The Reluctant Bride

Departing from Toulmouche's usual paintings of a single woman, this work is a more complicated composition showing a group of women in an opulently decorated room.

She is attended by two women of similar age: the woman to the left in a blue-grey satin gown with a patterned shawl bends to kiss her forehead, while the woman to the right in burnt orange velvet gown is crouching to hold her left hand.

A girl stands to the right, looking in a mirror as she tries on a bridal headdress of orange blossom, echoing the central figure's bouquet.

The scene may be set in shortly before the wedding of the central young woman, waiting in a parlour or drawing room with her bridesmaids.

The work came to public attention in late 2023 when it was used to express women's anger on TikTok: a version accompanied by excepts of the Dies Irae from Verdi's Requiem was quickly viewed over 6 million times.