THE SPIRIT OF THE ROYAL COURT

THIS MASTERPIECE SUGGESTS THE EPHEMERAL NATURE OF LOVE, PLEASURE AND LIFE...

                                                                   The Embarcation for Cythèra by Antoine Watteau, 1717 / zoom

Despite the title, whether the figures are leaving for the site of love or returning from it is unclear. In any case the misty atmosphere won't last.

...but usually the style extolled sociability or the arts in an imaginary setting, with no further message:

           Die Freuden des Landlebens ("The Joys of Country Life") by Jean-Baptiste Pater, toward 1730 

   La Camargo danse by Nicolas Lancret vers 1730 / zoom

It might be erotic...

   The Swing, by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, toward 1768 / zoom

An elderly man (the husband?) pushes a coquette as a dazzled swain admires her legs and cupids embrace.

      Le Verrou ("The Lock") by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, toward 1770

Was always raffined...

     Les Quatre Saisons : L'hiver ("The Four Seasons: Winter") by François Bourcher, 1755 / zoom

...as was daily life.

                           Madame de Pompadour by F. Boucher, 1756 / zoom                                                                   Zoom

The Sèvres royal manufactory was founded by Louis XV and his favorite, Madame de Pompadour in 1745. It still supplies elites and made the tiles for the renovated Château Rouge métro station.

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For the peasantry, that elite had no idea:

Jeune berger dans un paysage ("Young shepherd in the countryside") by François Boucher, no date / zoom

La Petite Laitière ("The Little Milkmaid") by François Boucher, 1766 / zoom

 

Marie-Antoinette's obliviousness

fit the world around her. 

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Next,

A bubblehead rises to the occasion