Art History Series: St. Peter Invited to Walk on Water

St. Peter Invited to Walk on Water, 1766 by Francois Boucher

Easter is quickly approaching and so today I will show you one of Boucher's religious paintings, namely "St. Peter Invited to Walk on the Water" from 1766. It is located in the Chateau of Versailles and is extremely detailed and pleasing to the eye, with impressive dimensions of 235x170. It is one of Bouchet's few Christian works, as he often draws his inspiration from Greek and Roman myths and legends, which I also feel quite close to. I am not religious and I am Jewish by blood, but I wish all those celebrating bright days and a moment of reflection! In these days of crisis around the world, let us remember that all spiritual leaders remind us of the same thing since the dawn of time - the only meaning and purpose in life is love and faith in goodness, let us strive for them with a pure heart.

Have a meaningful day, friends!

Regards,

Julia

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Art History Series: François Boucher (1703 - 1770)

François BOUCHER (1703-1770) - A Lady Fastening Her Garter (La Toilette),1742

Today we continue the series on France with an artist who is involved in a large part of the history of Versailles Chateaux and is a bold representative of the French and Italian schools.

Francois Boucher is a French artist who worked in the Rococo style and was heavily inspired by Rubens and Watteau for whom I already told you about. He is known for his idyllic and lavish paintings on classical subjects, decorative allegories and pastoral scenes. His early works celebrate nature and the tranquility of the landscapes, which he paints with great elan. In most cases, however, he deviates from the typical innocence of this type of work and relies on a large dose of eroticism. His mythological scenes are intimate, tender and amorous rather than epic, for which he was heavily criticized at first, but revered after.

Madame Pompadour, whose name became synonymous with the Rococo style, was a strong supporter of his and the portraits he produced of her were a large part of her presentation to the world and I cannot wait to tell you more about her at a later point.

He also produced numerous family scenes, theater sets and wall tapestries. Boucher also often worked for the part of the royal household responsible for events, the opera and the châteaux at Versailles, Fontainebleau and Choisy. There are numerous designs used for porcelain figurines and biscuit tins in the crown-owned factories of Vincennes and Sèvres.

In the twilight of his life, the reputation of his early years was replaced by fame and honor, rising to the title of First Painter to the King in 1765.

Regards,

Julia

Francois Boucher - The Love Letter,1750

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Art History Series: The Watteau Dress

L'Enseigne de Gersaint c.1720 Antoine Watteau

Antoine Watteau - one of the most influential artists of the 18th century painted so many pictures of the aristocracy in nature and theatrical scenes that he created a whole new genre, which I wrote about in another post - fête galantes. What I find to be even more fascinating is that he depicted a number of ladies in lovely dresses, which were later called the Watteau Dress - this is a delicate cut, with loose fabrics falling from the back, at first with a loose waist, which later tightens and passes into robe à l'anglaise.

His paintings, in which aristocrats calmly enjoy music or walks in the park, become an ideal for society, and for me personally, the connection between all forms of art is very strong and interesting to observe. Watteau managed to influence fashion, music, architecture and many artists in his wake. Delightful, isn't it?

Regards,

Julia

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