The Toilet of Venus (Boucher)
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| The Toilet of Venus | |
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| Artist | François Boucher |
| Year | 1751 |
The Toilet of Venus is an oil painting on canvas completed in 1751 by the painter François Boucher. One of his best known works, it is held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Description
[edit]Venus is nude on a rococo canapé in a lavish interior whose drawn curtains reveal a garden in the background. Three small putti accompany the goddess and help her to tend to her appearance, one arranging her hair, another handing her a ribbon, and belowa third raises a silver platter with a pearl necklace. The goddess takes in her hand one of two doves, a bird with whom she was historically associated.
Context
[edit]The work was commissioned from the painter by his benefactor, the marquise de Pompadour, the influential lover of king Louis XV, for the vestibule of her the Château de Bellevue[1]. It served as a pendant to the Bath of Vénus, today held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
With Boucher, the sumptuous Baroque was transformed into the gallant Rococo. The best representative and principal author the era's taste, Boucher used his imagination and virtuosity in exploring themes such as pastorals, bucolic landscapes, and mythological scenes dedicated to the loves of the gods. He devoted at least five paintings to Venus. The Goncourt brothers explained how the bright, gentle colors of his works suited the decorative exuberance in style at the time.[2]