The constantly over-stimulated people of that time interpreted these pictures as a paradise in which their imaginations could run wild. Even earnest men whose thoughts were directed towards lofty goals sought consolation and convalescence from serious intellectual battles. One of the great admirers of Watteau was King Frederick II of Prussia (1712–1786), who adorned his palace with Watteau’s pictures.

      Amongst Watteau’s best works are, of course, La Leçon d’amour (the Lesson in Love) (c. 1716), The Pilgrimage to the Island of Cythera and The Dance (between 1710 and 1720). The Gersaint’s Shop Sign (1720), a sign painted for the Paris art dealer Gersaint, depicted the interior of the sale room and the distinguished visitors, thus capturing the reality of the time. One of his most beautiful pictures, The Surprise (c. 1718), had been missing since the mid-19th century and presumed to be destroyed until 2008, when it was discovered in an English country house and soon afterwards sold at auction for more than €15 million. What Watteau had depicted in his pastoral scenes and lively entertainments nevertheless influenced reality insofar as certain items of clothing such as bonnets, bodices, skirts and other ensembles of feminine dress were taken over from the fashion of that time and were still worn 150 years after Watteau’s death.

      Amongst Watteau’s numerous imitators, only two have really made a name for themselves. One is Watteau’s student and friend Nicolas Lancret (1690–1743), who in his pictures, widely distributed particularly through engravings, continued the tradition of pastoral scenes and joyous parties. Amongst his best-known pictures are Game in the Open Air and Moulinet, (both early 18th century) or even the Breakfast with Ham (1735). The other is Jean-Baptiste Pater (1695–1736), who initially was trained by his father as a sculptor and later, like a good pupil, obediently stuck to the tracks laid down by Watteau, but brought with him some Flemish humour. He made the artistic form hitherto featured only in life at court and amongst the aristocracy rather more folksy. Pater depicted, in exactly the same way as François Boucher (1703–1770) and Lancret, al fresco parties and dances in marvellous colours. Pater’s masterpieces include The Fortune Teller, The Bathers (c. 1730) and The Joys of Country Life (1730–1735).

      François Boucher

      The inclinations of this somewhat more uninhibited era were particularly to the taste of the very productive François Boucher, the favourite artist of Louis XV and one of his mistresses, Madame de Pompadour. Boucher wanted to please his contemporaries by embellishing their walls and ceilings. In this sense he embodied the taste of the century more than anyone else; he had a gift for composition, which he always expressed with a light touch, elegance and perfect harmony. As early as 1723, Boucher won the much sought-after Prix de Rome, which included a four-year stay in Rome. He was incredibly productive, creating mythological scenes with seductive goddesses, for example Diana after Bathing (1742), and pastoral scenes with alluring activities. In addition, he illustrated books and created designs for tapestries, models for porcelain figures, as well as fans and theatre decorations.

      Jean-Étienne Liotard, The Chocolate Girl, c. 1744–1745.

      Pastel on parchment paper, 82.5 × 52.5 cm.

      Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden.

      Jean-Siméon Chardin, Saying Grace, 1744.

      Oil on canvas, 49.5 × 38.4 cm.

      The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.

      Jean-Siméon Chardin, Girl with Racket and Shuttlecock, 1740.

      Oil on canvas, 82 × 66 cm.

      Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

      Élisabeth Vigée-Le Brun, Self-Portrait at the Easel, 1790.

      Oil on canvas, 100 × 81 cm.

      Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

      Jean-Baptiste Greuze, The Dead Bird, 1800.

      Oil on canvas, 68 × 55 cm.

      Musée du Louvre, Paris.

      Jean-Siméon Chardin, The Skate, c. 1725–1726.

      Oil on canvas, 114 × 146 cm.

      Musée du Louvre, Paris.

      As a decorative artist he was by no means inferior to his fascinating Italian contemporary Tiepolo (1696–1770). In addition he painted outstanding portraits, for example the two portraits of Madame de Pompadour of 1750 and 1759, as well as intimate domestic scenes such as the Morning Coffee or The Milliner (1746). As a painter of portraits, Boucher was always pleasing and flattering, and as a chivalrous phrasemonger, he created a world which was far removed from reality, buried under a thick layer of powder and makeup, as in his Venus in Vulcan’s Smithy (1757). He was frequently attacked by Diderot for his deceptive portrayal of a frivolous lifestyle. After the French Revolution, Boucher disappeared almost completely and was not rediscovered until the end of the 19th century.

      Jean-Honoré Fragonard

      Boucher had a large number of pupils. One of the best and most talented was Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806), the son of a perfume manufacturer. He came from Grasse, the city of perfume, and he looked up to Boucher and essentially painted romantic gardens with fountains, grottoes, temples and terraces and intended to continue this chivalrous and successful tradition, for instance with The Bathers (1756), with the famous The Swing and The Stolen Kiss, when the storms of revolution broke out and brought a violent end to this kind of art. So he decided to bring down the curtain on the end of the 18th century, which was heralded by Watteau with his tender and sometimes melancholy pictures and with his fireworks. Watteau was deep and lost in thought; Fragonard was bright and lively. His pastoral and boudoir scenes were popular, especially his fêtes-galantes in the Rococo style. Under the patronage of King Louis XV, he

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