19th Century, Follower Of Francois Boucher (1703-1770), Allegory Of The Arts

19th century, follower of Francois Boucher (1703-1770),

Allegory of the arts

Oil on canvas, cm 129 x 100

With frame, cm 101,5 x 134,5

On a cloud, highlighted by an intense blue sky, are two putti: one, semi-drained, contemplates a small sculpture; the other, instead, draws attention to a painting still placed on the easel pointing it with the index finger. The composition is completed by a series of references to painting and sculpture, such as a sketch and other rolled sheets, a notebook, the plaster of a foot and a bust.

We are therefore faced with the representation of an allegory of painting and sculpture. The theme in question is very frequent in art history, mostly represented by the personification of the arts as female figures. More original then the choice of the artist to represent the arts as amorini, taking the model of the French artist François Boucher (1703-1770). The following works can be cited as examples: Allegory of Poetry and Allegory of Autumn, oil on canvas executed around the mid-eighteenth century and now preserved at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

The style and mix of colours also resemble this author, so it is reasonable to attribute the work to a follower of Boucher in the 19th century.

The object is in good condition