1744
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Music and Dance and Cupids in Conspiracy is a 1744 unspecified by François Boucher, a Baroque work, depicting Putti, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This painting shows people dancing and playing music with cupids around them. It's interesting because it was made to be put above a door in a house. The painting and its pair were likely used to decorate a room in 18th-century France, which is a detail that makes them notable. You can learn more about the style of this work by looking at the technique of sfumato.
Along with Cupids in Conspiracy (1948.181.2), this work is surely part of a series of over-door paintings that would have been installed in a house. However, where the panels were originally installed or who commissioned them remains unknown. They exemplify the fusion of fine arts and decorative arts that was common in elite interior design in 18th-century France. Even though the paintings were part of the wall decoration of the room, the patrons chose François Boucher, a well-known painter of portraits and genre scenes, as well as mythological and religious subjects, to execute them. These…
Read the full account in the museum source.
François Boucher was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style.
See the richer artist page
