Description
Lighthearted, erotic decorative schemes remained popular among the French aristocracy throughout the 1700s. In this painting, part of the playfulness comes from the way Boucher painted some of the figures in gray, as if made of stone, while the others are fully human. The artist toyed with the boundaries of painting and sculpture, as well as fiction and reality.The original purpose of this painting remains unclear. While it may have been exhibited as an independent work of art, it probably served initially as a preliminary design for a tapestry.
Provenance
Baron Edmond de Rothschild [1845-1934], Paris, by descent to his son, Maurice de Rothschild (Until 1934); Maurice de Rothschild [1881-1957], Paris, confiscated by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (1934-1940); In possession of the Nazis (1940-); Rothschild Family, to P. & D. Colnaghi (Until 1974); (P. & D. Colnaghi, London, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (1974-1979); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1979-)
Accession Number
1979.55
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
Framed: 246 x 228.5 x 6.5 cm (96 7/8 x 89 15/16 x 2 9/16 in.); Unframed: 233 x 215 cm (91 3/4 x 84 5/8 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
The Thomas L. Fawick Memorial Collection