After François Boucher, The Gallant Shepherd, 1850s, Oil on Canvas, Framed

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Oil on canvas depicting a gallant scene set in a landscape of ruins. The man in the painting is hanging … Read more Oil on canvas depicting a gallant scene set in a landscape of ruins. The man in the painting is hanging a garland of flowers on a young shepherdess. At her feet are her three sheep, her hat, her cane, and a bouquet of flowers. Hiding behind the ruins is a young boy who is watching the scene unfold, circa 1850 dimension with frame: l 38.6 in, w 1.6 in, h 40.6 in l 98 cm, p 4 cm, h 103 cm dimension without frame: l 36.6 in, w 1 in, h 38.6 in l 93 cm, p 2.5 cm, h 98 cm. Historical note: this painting is a copy of le pasteur galant which was painted by françois boucher for the courtroom of prince hercules-meriadec, the duke of rohan, located on the ground floor of the hotel de soubise. In 1732 the duke married for the second time at more than sixty years of age and decided to mark the event by asking boffrand to transform the hotel that was built by his father a generation earlier. Boffrand’s task was to build a pavilion containing two oval salons, one for the prince and another for the new princess, as well as to transform the adjacent living quarters. The decor of the princess’s salon as well as the space above the doors of the other rooms was assigned to be pained by the most influential painters of the time: natoire, boucher, carle van loo, and restout tremolieres. Boucher was commissioned to provide seven paintings over doors that varied widely and displayed the diversity of his artistic talent. His paintings displayed mythological scenes, pastorals, and even a simple landscape. Two of the above-door paintings, le pasteur galant and le pasteur complaisant were a great novelty among boucher’s works, as they are the first pastoral scenes to ever appear. This very new subject matter did not receive many commentaries at the time, most likely because the paintings appeared in a private residence and were not available for public viewing. By the time these paintings were mentioned in guides, boucher had already painted enough pastoral scenes for the novelty to have worn off. Bibliography: francois boucher: 1703–1770, galeries nationales du grand palais, paris, 18 septembre 1986–5 janvier 1987, p 176. See less