Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806)

The Lover Crowned 1773

http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/his/CoreArt/art/anc_frag_lovercr.html

http://marie-antoinettequeenoffrance.blogspot.com/2009/07/progress-of-love-lover-crowned.html

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/frag/hd_frag.htm

http://academic.mu.edu/meissnerd/rococo.html

http://world.std.com/~hmfh/frag.htm

In 1771 Madame du Barry, The Mistress of Louis XV, commissioned Fragonard to paint a series of four oil paintings that described the Progress of Love.  The Lover Crowned 1773 is the final painting of the series and demonstrates Fragonard’s vision of the last phase of love, the “crowning” which indicates consummation of the relationship or marriage.  The Rococo style, however seemed to be losing it’s popularity as Neo-Classicism gained and the the paintings were returned to Fragonard after briefly being displayed at the love nest of Louis and du Barry: Louveciennes.
It now resides at the Frick Museum in New York.

The painting has many of the characteristics of the Rococo period as it shows aristocrats at play in an organic environment of the artist’s imagination, much like Watteau’s fetes galantes. The garden is overgrown and left to become wild, as was typical of the period, but the garden also has orange trees in planting boxes that would be brought into greenhouses during the colder months. This could be an allusion to our lovers who are protected from the natural world by their social status.
The lovers are dressed as members of the aristocracy, painted with pastel colors and posed in postures made popular by the classical ballet of the time. Their faces are painted to show no real expression demonstrating the manner of the aristocracy and their desire to maintain a posture of aloofness and cool. Scattered about them are books of music and instruments representing the sister arts as well as perhaps showing the viewer what the activities in the garden may have consisted of.

The Cupid, or Putto, statue appears to be relaxing or asleep as though perhaps his work here is done or perhaps that there is little of interest to him in this final phase of love. The only dead tree in the painting sits above the Putto as a cloth of honor. Could this manifestation allude to the couple, their love, or the need for Cupids arrows at this time?

In the right-hand foreground is another figure, perhaps Fragonard himself, busily sketching the activities going on, or is he?
The figure may also have directed all of the elements before him into a composition of his choosing, showing the hand of the artist in the contrived scene and putting into question the emotional bonds between the lovers. Is this why the Cupid is uninterested?

The rejection of this painting by Madame du Barry led to Fragonard returning to Italy and attempting to alter his style to include a more Neo-Classical appeal but unfortunately he was unable to recapture his popularity. While this work is considered a masterpiece it also seems to have been finished as the interest in Rococo was coming to an end.