Object Image

Pastoral Revels

The painting and its pendant, P436, depict love in two different ways. Its painting takes the bird hunt as an obvious erotic allegory, whereas this painting depicts an ideal, contemporary scene of love. The paintings are fine examples of Lancret's late style. Lancret emulated Netherlandish works in the high finish of the two paintings. Very unusually for his work, he painted them on silver-coated copper, a support that helps to highlights this effect.

P478 is a typical Fête galante, an idealised social gathering in the open air as introduced by Antoine Watteau. 'Pastoral Revels' is based on a larger composition that Lancret exhibited at the Salon of 1737 ('Blind Man's Buff (Le Jeu de Colin-Mai...

1738
Oil on copper
32.5 x 40.7cm
P478
Images and text © Wallace Collection, 2017

Where you'll find this

The Wallace Collection
Permanent collection