William Bouguereau was born in Saint Rochelle, on the west coast of France. No wonder he found a lot of inspiration on the nearby beaches. Shown above is one of the lovely local girls after spending too much time under the sun. Here is the only 19th century bodyboarder on record:

Below are some more (do you recognize the girls on the right?):

Click any image to visit a gallery where you can find many more remastered versions of the same Bouguereau painting.