This is a typical work of the Age of the Enlightenment: through his works Greuze has - an exponent of the new ideas - aimed to educate people and inspire them to be virtuous. Yet despite its evidently touching message – we see a family assembled around a paralysed old man - the scene seems deliberate and theatrical. The canvas was a great success. Denis Diderot, an admirer of the ‘morality' genre, wrote in his critical review that the Paralytic would be better called ‘The Benefits of Good Education. Catherine II acquired this work from the artist on Diderot's advice in 1766. The Hermitage also possesses several preparatory drawings for the picture.