The Swing, by Jean-Honoré Fragonard

This is an oil on canvas (64.2 x 81 cm), located at the Wallace Collection, London, UK.

In 1767, the Baron de Saint-Julien commissioned a painting of himself with his mistress, with a very precise idea of the scene in question.

Fragonard was still a young painter at the time.

At first glance, the painting appears to be a simple image of an innocent young woman playing, but it soon becomes clear that the scene is deliberately provocative and quite mischievous.

At the center of the painting is a woman, seated on a swing in motion (at the time, a swing was a conventional symbol of infidelity).

She is being pushed by an elderly man in the background who is unaware of the presence of a man in the scene.

Cupid (symbol of love) is shown with his finger to his lips to prevent the two Venus under the swing from revealing the game, while the left arm of the young man (the Baron) has an obvious meaning.

The joyful exuberance of the painting is emphasized by the way the folds of the woman's dress match the pattern of the foliage present, as well as by its bright pastel colors and soft lighting.

This erotic instant - this magnificent work of Rococo art, celebrating the spirit of aesthetic refinement and aristocratic decadence on the eve of the French Revolution ,  shows that in the field of eroticism, Fragonard is simply unmatched.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard  (1732-1806) was a very important figure in French painting of the 18th century, who is now considered one of the greatest Rococo artists of all time.

He was trained by François Boucher , famous for his painting of everyday life and genre works.  In the mid-1760s, revitalizing the language initiated by Jean-Antoine Watteau, Fragonard began to specialize in the playful and erotic compositions for which he is now best known.

His delicate 18th-century color palette, spirited content, and quick brushstrokes even gave his most voyeuristic canvases a wonderful atmosphere of great joy.