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The Island of Love Pierre-Antoine Quillard

Artist

Pierre-Antoine Quillard Paris 1701 – 1733 Lisbon

Culture French
Date first half of the 18th century
Object type painting
Medium, technique oil on canvas
Dimensions

57 x 69 cm

Inventory number 57.6
Collection Old Master Paintings
On view Museum of Fine Arts, Second Floor, European Art 1700-1850, Gallery XXVIII

The expert eye will quickly recognise that the model of the painting on display here might have been Antoine Watteau’s famous work Pilgrimage to the Isle of Cythera. Quillard, who died tragically young, was a pupil and an excellent follower of the French rococo master. Unlike in Watteau’s work, the distinguished party is not leaving but arriving on the island of love, where a statue of Venus, set up in an ancient circular temple, welcomes the ladies and their cavaliers as they disembark from the barge. Choreographed, dance-like movements and staged settings convey an atmosphere of affected conversation and courtship. Spirit, charm, and the enjoyment of life permeate the courteous scene, which is made dreamlike by the floating, mischievous amorettos, the soft lights filtered through the sea mist, and the pastel-like colours.

References

Pigler, Andor, Katalog der Galerie Alter Meister, 1-2. Museum der Bildenden Künste, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest. 2, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1967, p. 188.

This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.

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