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Are They Thinking about the Grape? (Pensent-ils au raisin?)

A work made of oil on canvas.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of oil on canvas.

Date:

1747

Artist:

François Boucher (French, 1703–1770)

About this artwork

This painting is based on a 1745 pantomime about a young shepherd’s awakening love for a shepherdess. The couple feed each other grapes—a fruit associated with Bacchus, god of pleasure—suggesting that their encounter is not entirely chaste. François Boucher’s compositions on pastoral themes comprise his most influential contribution to 18th-century French art. These lush and playful fantasies of rustic life, designed primarily for the private enjoyment of wealthy financiers and aristocrats, had little to do with the social realities of rural labor during the period.

Status

On View, Gallery 216

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist

François Boucher

Title

Are They Thinking about the Grape? (Pensent-ils au raisin?)

Place

France (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1747

Medium

Oil on canvas

Inscriptions

Signed and dated bottom, right of center: f. Boucher 1747

Dimensions

Oval: 80.8 × 68.5 cm (31 3/4 × 27 in.); Framed: 96.6 × 84.5 × 11.5 cm (38 × 33 1/4 × 4 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Martha E. Leverone Endowment

Reference Number

1973.304

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/44742/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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