The Truth (Lefebvre)

The Truth is an 1870 oil-on-canvas painting by the French painter Jules Joseph Lefebvre. It is in the Musée d'Orsay, in Paris, since 1982.

The Truth was exhibited during the 1870 Salon and was bought by the French state in 1871.

The painting depicts a naked woman standing, facing the viewers. Her right hand extends above her head, holding a golden mirror, her left hand seems to be holding a stick or staff, and her right leg is bent, shifting weight onto her left hip.

The painting is contemporary with the first small scale model made by Lefebvre's fellow-Frenchman Frédéric Bartholdi for what became the Statue of Liberty, striking a similar pose, though fully clothed.