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Pastoral
(18th and 19th Centuries )
During his twenties, Boucher spent three years in Italy on a prestigious scholarship sponsored by the French Academy of Art, and paintings like this one show the influence of 16th-century Venetian artists. The critic Denis Diderot (1713–84), who later became Boucher’s most outspoken enemy, praised these early Italianate works, which he admired for their fresh colors and vigorous brushwork. This composition was one of Boucher’s first successes, and it was reproduced as a print by Louis-Michel Halbou (1730–ca. 1809).
At least two versions of this painting exist, and it also became known through an etching by Louis-Michel Halbou.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 12/8/1956 | Treatment | varnish removed or reduced |
| 12/28/1976 | Treatment | coated; inpainted; loss compensation; varnish removed or reduced |
| 6/21/1985 | Examination | examined for condition |
Geographies
France (Place of Origin)
Measurements
Framed H: 25 × W: 28 × D: 3 1/2 in. (63.5 × 71.1 × 8.9 cm); Unframed H: 14 7/8 × W: 18 1/8 in. (37.8 × 46 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.391