Fêtes Vénitiennes
Fêtes Vénitiennes is a 1719 painting by Antoine Watteau, now in the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh, to which it was bequeathed in 1861 by Lady Murray of Henderland, widow of John Murray, Lord Murray. It takes its title from a 1732 engraving of the work by Laurent Cars and is derived from the Venetian styles of dress and dancing shown in the work, the former inspired by the commedia dell'arte. It belongs to the fêtes galantes genre created by Watteau.[1]
| Fêtes Vénitiennes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Antoine Watteau |
| Year | 1719 |
| Medium | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 56 cm × 46 cm (22 in × 18 in) |
| Location | National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh |
| Accession | NG 439 |
The main dancer in the centre may be the leading actress Charlotte Desmares (the mistress of the Duc d'Orleans), whilst some identify the dancer in the black hat as the Flemish painter Nicolas Vleughels, a friend of Watteau. These two dancers are shown dancing a minuet, with other figures sitting in the background. These include a man courting a woman, two women talking to an actor and a self-portrait of the painter as a musician holding a set of bagpipes – these had had a sexual symbolism since the Middle Ages, such as in Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights. Behind this seated group are two more people and a fountain.[2]
References
- "Catalogue entry".
- Baur, Eva-Gesine (2005). "El rococó y el neoclasicismo". Los maestros de la pintura occidental (in Spanish). Taschen. p. 350. ISBN 3-8228-4744-5.
Further reading
- Adhémar, Hélène (1950). Watteau; sa vie, son oeuvre (in French). Includes "L’univers de Watteau", an introduction by René Huyghe. Paris: P. Tisné. OCLC 853537.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Bryson, Norman (1981). Word and Image: French Painting of the Ancien Régime. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 67–68. ISBN 0-521-27654-3 – via the Internet Archive.
- Camesasca, Ettore, ed. (1971). The Complete Painting of Watteau. Classics of the World's Great Art. Introduction by John Sutherland. New York: Harry N. Abrams. p. 119. ISBN 0810955253. OCLC 143069 – via the Internet Archive. Cat. no. 180.
- Clarke, Michael, ed. (2000). A Companion Guide to the National Gallery of Scotland. Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland. p. 118. ISBN 9781903278116. OCLC 1148620386 – via the Internet Archive.
- Dacier, Émile; Vuaflart, Albert (1922). Jean de Julienne et les graveurs de Watteau au XVIII-e siècle. III. Catalogue (in French). Paris: M. Rousseau. OCLC 1039156495. Note no. 6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Gauthier, Maximilien (1959). Watteau. Les Grands Peintres. Paris: Larousse. Pl. 45. OCLC 1151682363 – via the Internet Archive.
- Goncourt, Edmond de (1875). Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, dessiné et gravé d'Antoine Watteau. Paris: Rapilly. pp. 125–126. OCLC 1041772738 – via the Internet Archive. Cat. no. 135
- Posner, Donald (1984). Antoine Watteau. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 290. ISBN 0-8014-1571-3. OCLC 10736607 – via the Internet Archive.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)