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David,
Yes, that's the gist. Though, if you don't average the values and get that topographical map, you can play a nice game with yourself to see if you can guess the values. After I did this experiment, I completed a painting in the same manner, using loose concentric areas of value. It minimized the blending, looked quite OK, but really sucked the fun out of it. REALLY an informative lesson for me.
Tim,
Yes! That's what I found too through this experiment. His values are much narrower than real life, even the deepest darks are not that deep. In contrast to the Titians and Veroneses before him, he uses extremely subtle lighting - overhead and cool, not the warm diagonals that were so popular with the chiaroscuro set.
I like that lighting, I like the misty mid-day feel of it. I think you've used it too - Aspen Bath comes to mind. Another thing that I think adds to WB's effect is the abundant reflected light, a la the Nymphs and Satyr painting. Lordy. Brilliant.
There are other things that seem to make a Bouguereau a Bouguereau, like certain affectations and pleasing distortions, for instance, a prounounced cool highlight on the inside of the lower eyelid, but not a very high value one. So the eyes appear wide open, but not too wet. Subtle, and effective.
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