Results: 1
-
View: Detail
-
- Works of Art
-
-
-
- Filippo della Valle (1698 - 1768)
- Cupid and Psyche
- Rome, Italy
- c. 1730
- S22
- Landing
- Bookmarkable URLThis sculpture depicts Cupid, god of love, and the beautiful mortal woman Psyche. Although adult lovers in the original tale, in art they are often depicted as children. The group is by Filippo della Valle who enjoyed a successful career in Rome, but was somewhat forgotten after his death.
Della Valle’s elegant style has much in common with that of French eighteenth-century sculptors. The group was for a long time attributed to a French sculptor Claude-Augustin Cayot, mainly on the basis of a false signature ‘Cayot 1706’ inscribed on the base. There is a discrepancy between the carved date and the more advanced, almost Rococo style of the sculpture. Research revealed that the group is a documented work of Della Valle. Cayot’s signature was applied later, probably by a dealer. The latter may have had the 4th Marquess of Hertford in mind as a buyer since Lord Hertford already owned a statue by Cayot.
-
-
- Studio of François Boucher (1703 - 1770)
- La marchande des modes (The Modiste)
- probably c. 1746
- P390
- Landing
- Bookmarkable URLA replica of the picture commissioned in 1745 and delivered in 1746 to Crown Princess Louisa Ulrika of Sweden, now in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. The subject was originally intended to illustrate Morning in an uncompleted series of the Times of the Day, and is typical of the elegant, contemporary interior scenes painted by Boucher between 1739 and 1746. The Wallace Collection’s picture was probably painted c.1746, before the prime version left the artist’s studio. Although of a good quality, it lacks the vivacity of the original, and was described as ‘after Boucher’ in the sale catalogue of its first owner, Salomon Pierre de Prousteau, in 1769. It served as a model for an engraving by René Gaillard in 1755 ('La marchande des modes') and was probably painted specifically as a model for the engraver.
-
-
- François Boucher (1703 - 1770)
- Daphnis and Chloe
- France
- 1743
- P385
- Landing
- Bookmarkable URLThe idea of the pastoral, depictions of an ideal rural and idyllic world inhabited by shepherds, goes back to antique literature and had been used increasingly since the Renaissance. Watteau created a Parisian version of the pastoral inhabited by fashionable young people in contemporary clothing. Boucher who was very familiar with Watteau's work from his early career as an engraver painted pastorals from the mid-1730s and developed them in a way that was seen as his own speciality. His pastorals feature gallant shepherds and shepherdesses that are simply but elegantly dressed and follow the decorum of fashionable courting. This painting is an exception in its use of half-naked figures and its openly erotic character. Because of this classicising mood, the painting has been linked to the Greek author Longus’s pastoral romance 'Daphnis and Chloe'.
The main group of the composition closely follows a bronze sculpture (lost, last documented in 1912) that could be by an Italian seventeenth-century artist: A version of it must have been available to Boucher. In this case, it would be a rare example of Boucher following a sculptural model for his paintings. A compositional drawing and studies for both protagonists exist. Boucher might have started with the composition of the bronze group and then studied studio models to prepare both figures for the painting. The compositional drawing is further away from the sculpture and might have been made after the painting.
The painting was cut down, and the painted surface originally had rounded outlines indicating the insertion into a decorative scheme. The viewpoint of the figures suggests the original use as an overdoor.
-
-
- François Boucher (1703 - 1770)
- Pastoral Make-Up (La toillette pastorale)
- France
- 1745
- P445
- Landing
- Bookmarkable URLTwo shepherdesses and putti with flowers represent Spring. Originally the painting, together with P447, formed part of a set of four representing the Seasons, all of which were shaped in the same manner and engraved by Charles Duflos in 1751. From their shape and low viewpoints it is clear that they were painted as overdoors to be inserted into decorative panelling. The other two pictures in the series depict the winter as return of Diana from the hunt (Retour de chasse de Diane; Paris, Musée Cognacq-Jay) and summer (Les confidences pastorale; Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Two of the seasons were thus depicted in the guise of mythological subjects, two as pastorals. An autograph, signed and dated version of this painting of 1748 was sold at Christie's, New York, 29 January 2014.
-
-
- François Boucher (1703 - 1770)
- Erigone Conquered (Erigone vaincue)
- France
- 1745
- P447
- Landing
- Bookmarkable URLAs described by Ovid, Bacchus, disguised as a bunch of grapes, deceives the nymph Erigone. Originally the painting, together with P442, formed part of a set of four representing the Seasons, all of which were shaped in the same manner and engraved by Charles Duflos in 1751. From their shape and low viewpoints it is clear that they were painted as overdoors to be inserted into decorative panelling. The other two pictures in the series depict the winter as return of Diana from the hunt (Retour de chasse de Diane; Paris, Musée Cognacq-Jay) and summer (Les confidences pastorale; Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Two of the seasons were thus depicted in the guise of mythological subjects, two as pastorals.
-
-
- François Boucher (1703 - 1770)
- Shepherd Piping to a Shepherdess
- France
- c. 1747 - 1750
- P399
- Landing
- Bookmarkable URLThe painting is an example of the pastoral in Boucher's work from the late 1740s (see P385). In an Arcadian landscape a shepherd plays the flute to a shepherdess who is about to repay his efforts with a crown of flowers and the reward of her affections.
Boucher repeatedly took his inspiration from the immensely popular pantomimes of Charles-Simon Favart who created a contemporary Parisian version of Arcadian literature. At the opéra comique, where Boucher was both set designer and a keen member of the audience, Favart’s musical dramas combined Arcadian idealism and aristocratic sensibilities with the rustic characters of popular theatre. This painting might illustrate scene V of Favart’s 'Les Vendanges de Tempé' (The Harvest in the Vale of Tempé) of 1745, which opens with the shepherd playing the flute to his sweetheart Lisette - or it is inspired by Favart in more general terms. It was probably painted c.1747-50 in the aftermath of Favart’s stage success. The original, irregular shape of the canvas suggests that the picture originally formed part of a decorative scheme. Neither circumstance of the original commission nor companion pieces are known.